Dead of Night
by mistyhollowdrummer
Summary: Vampire and Modern AU: Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, who had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one. (Rated M for sexual content, violence, gore, cursing Main pairing: Eren and Armin)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hellloooooo~ Everyone. ^^ So, this is a fanfic that's been in progress since last year, and I finally decided to upload it here to . It's really different from my other fanfic, but I haven't finished the chapter for it yet. It's really long. ^^' So I wanted to upload this one as compensation for those Eremin lovers out there~**

**SucholdwritingsucholdwritingitmakesmesickandIwanttogagathowbadmywritingwasayearago. *cough, cough* Anyway! Enjoy my (old) fanfic!**

**-Misty**

**Song of the day: Killer**

**By Rania**

* * *

**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, who had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

* * *

**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan)****  
**

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**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 1: ****  
****Blue Like the Ocean****  
**

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"Awe man..." Eren saw the black screen of his dead cellphone and whined. He flipped it shut and looked up to the city around him, watching it be doused by a downpour of rain. "This is just my luck..." He grumbled to himself.

He looked up and down the busy street, hoping to see an empty taxi, but to no prevail. Even if he did see one, it was more than likely that someone would pick it up before he could. That would be just his luck too. He sighed, knowing there was no escaping it. With a dead phone, no umbrella, and no way to contact his sister for a ride home, it was a hopeless endeavor.

Eren said goodbye to the nice, crisp clean suit he was wearing and left the confines of the carport to begin the long and agonizing trip back to his apartment in the rain, and it wasn't a light rain either. It was a harsh and unforgiving rain that poured on his head and soaked him thoroughly within minutes. He took off his drenched jacket and held it over his head, hoping to keep the rain out of his face so he could see, but it didn't help much. It was just enough for him to squint and see where he was going.

He began muttering to himself, avoiding any stares or glances of people who walked by him and keeping his gaze firmly locked forward. At a stop light he waited for the light to go red and let him go across the crosswalk. As he waited, being the only person at the light, a car came whizzing by. The high speed added with the foot of water in the street sent the water flying, drenching his lower half down to his socks.

"God damn it..." He hissed. He nearly shouted after the erratic driver, but he didn't. He was more uncomfortable than ever and didn't want to start any fights, lest he be heard by someone.

_'This is just not my day...' _He thought_. 'First I wake up twenty minutes late for work, the shower didn't have hot water, and I get chewed out by my boss and nearly lose my job... What else could go wrong?'_ He wondered.

The gods just loved to mess with him. As he wondered that, his phone slipped out of his jacket pocket and fell into the foot of muddy water overflowing from the sewers.

Why did he even ask?

"Fuck...!" He nearly screamed. He wondered why he bothered picking it up. It was probably ruined now that the water had drenched it, but he hoped for some tiny, insignificant miracle to happen.

_'I just want this day to be over!'_ He cried within his head. He begged and pleaded with the gods that something, anything would happen to bring a little happiness to his bad day. It was all internal pleading, unspoken to anyone around him, but it didn't seem to help.

The light changed into a go sign and Eren started walking. He draped his wet jacket over his shoulder, not even bothering anymore. He just wanted to get home, take a warm bath, have a nice, hot meal, and go to bed. That was all he wanted.

He crossed the street safely and stood on the curb by a store. He wanted to go inside a store and ask to borrow a phone, but now he was drenched. No one would let him in, whether he asked or not. He sighed as he began walking again.

He really wanted this day to be over.

The rain was loud and painful in and against his ears. He could only hear the sounds of cars going by and the splashing of water as he walked, but then he heard something else. After passing an alleyway, he heard the sound of something breaking. His mind was so dazed with hatred for his predicament that he almost didn't register the sound, but it made it through his hazy filter and settled in his mind. He physically stopped and then backed up a few paces to stand at the entrance to the alleyway.

He could hear the sounds of the water dripping in the space between the buildings, amplified and echoing off of the walls, but he also heard _and_ saw a trash can fall over. He startled as he watched something crawling behind the fallen item.

"A dog...?" He mumbled to himself. That sure was what it looked like. Eren wouldn't deny that he had a soft spot for animals, no matter what the breed or species. When he was younger he had constantly brought home strays. This resulted in many calls to the pound and a sad Eren losing an animal he quickly gained attachment to.

But was now different? He lived with his sister, and while she didn't hate animals, she wasn't so fond of them that she'd do what he used to do. Would she mind him bringing home a dog? It was raining and it was cold. They were both in the same situation and the poor thing was probably hungry.

The thought crossed his mind that he wasn't the only being suffering at the moment. That seemed to do it for him.

"Screw the rain..." He lifted his jacket off of his body and held it up. He didn't want to startle the poor thing.

Eren slowly and quietly walked into the alleyway. For some reason, the rain wasn't as heavy inside the walls as it was outside them. It was sparse, but still pretty bad. He concluded that the poor thing must have been soaked. He was in a bad spot, just like Eren, and the teenager couldn't feel any more saddened by the thought.

"... Come here," Eren called quietly and calmly. He didn't want to startle the animal to death. He heard the small shuffling and saw some trash on the ground being pushed away. For a moment he wondered if this was such a smart idea. He had no idea what the stray was capable of doing, or if it was even mentally stable; it could have rabies for all he knew, but he didn't want to leave it in the rain and alone. If it was suffering, he had to help in any way he could. "Come here, puppy..."

"Leave me alone." A voice murmured. Eren's shoulders dropped at the sound of the voice. This wasn't a dog, it was a person. Less worried for startling something human, Eren walked right up to the trashcans and looked for the source.

Sitting behind the trashcan was a small boy, not much smaller than him, with blond hair down to his shoulders and pale skin that glowed in the dim light of the city peering into the alleyway. He clothes were tattered with mud and blood. There were tears in his dark, blood, and rain drenched vest and the buttons of his shirt were popped open at the top and bottom. Some buttons were missing, like the ones at the top of his jeans. There were more open areas in his pants that revealed too much for his young physique.

"Hey, a-are you alright?" Eren asked with panic in his voice. He pushed the trash can over to reveal more of the boy, but as soon as he did the smaller boy cried and covered his head with his arms, revealing the cuts all along his forearms.

"Leave me alone!" He screeched. Eren visibly jumped back, his back and head hitting the other side of the alleyway. He still had his jacket in his hands, holding it up for the boy, but now he looked as if he were holding it up to protect himself. "Please... Leave me alone..." The boy begged.

Eren lowered the jacket and kneeled down onto the ground. He tilted his head down to see the boy's face, and when he did the boy lifted his head. Eren's own green eyes widened when getting the chance to see his face. Eren could faintly see his sharp teeth sticking out from his upper lip as well. His eyes were red with tears that had made his eyes swollen, but they were red for another reason entirely. The piercing red was bright, his pupils barely dilated while the street lights reflected off of them.

"I don't want to hurt you..." The smaller boy cried while his hands covered his head.

"Vampire..." Eren whispered the word. His breath had turned cold from the realization that was thrust into his face and shivers went down his spine.

Here he was, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one. Eren could make out the difference between the rain falling on him and the tears seeping through his swollen eyes.

"Please go away..." The blond-haired boy hid his face behind his knees and curled closer to the wall.

"... Uh..." Eren wanted to say something, anything, but his mind was blank. He couldn't leave someone alone, whether they were human or not, but if he dared to try and help, the boy could easily kill him. He could suck him dry and leave him right there on the cold ground. What could he possibly do?

"Please... Please..." The boy kept begging and whimpering. "I don't... Want to hurt you..."

"Hey... I-It's okay," Eren carefully scooted closer, his jacket in his hands as a shield even though he knew that it wouldn't do any good against a vampire.

"Stay away," The boy pleaded.

"No... Maybe... I can help?" Eren suggested in a questioning tone. The boy dared to peek up from behind his knees at the teenager before him. His red eyes were glaring at him, hungry and needy.

"You can't..." He answered.

"No, no, there's got to be something I can do..." Eren held out his jacket for him. "Take this. Keep yourself dry." He said.

The boy scooted away from him, inching along the wall. He didn't want to be any closer than he was already. He wasn't able to control himself. God only knows what he would do if there was less distance between them.

"It's okay," Eren said.

"No... No, I'll hurt you." He shook his head and curled into himself protectively. Eren forced himself closer, closing a foot of distance between them quickly and making the boy back up into a corner. He was trapped, stuck and forced to be close to him.

"It's okay," Eren assured. "Just take it. You can do that." Eren said, using a soothing voice he had previously when he thought that the boy was a dog. The smaller boy kept shaking his head, trying his best to keep distance, but Eren slowly kept closing that distance.

He had no choice. Eren wasn't going to let up and he didn't have anywhere to go. He was utterly trapped.

A slim, pale, and small hand lifted up, fingers shaking as they hesitantly reached for the jacket. The boy's fingers brushed against the fabric, almost like he was experimenting with the sensation before tugging on the fabric. Eren released his jacket and the boy tugged it closer to his body. Eren didn't move, his own body anticipating some sort of attack or breakdown from the smaller one. He waited, but it never came.

"See...? You didn't hurt me." Eren smiled at him and said. The small boy pulled the jacket around his shoulders, quickly getting the warmth his body lacked. He was shaking, however, all because he was trying his best not breathe and catch the scent of his human body.

He had smelled him from yards away, which is exactly why he hid in the first place. Obviously he hadn't hidden well enough, because now he was just fighting against these unknown instincts not to suck the boy dry, because, God, did he smell good…

"What's your name?" Eren asked. The boy looked up at him, eyes barely hiding under the rim of his jacket and knees. He shook his head, but Eren persisted. "You can tell me. I'm not going to turn you in." Eren rolled his eyes and spoke with a sarcastic tone.

The boy waited some more.

"... Well?" He tilted his head a little and asked. The boy's red eyes shifted from him to the jacket around him. He didn't notice it until it was too late, but he realized that he was breathing. Eren's natural scent caught in his nose and it made him shiver. His teeth ached and his body quivered with anticipation and desire.

He smelled so good.

"... A-Armin..." He answered. Eren smiled again, his eyes seeming to glow a little.

"Armin," He said. The named rolled off of his tongue well and it made the vampire shiver again. "I'm Eren." He replied.

"Eren..." Armin repeated. The name made his body tremble. He was lurking onto dangerous territory. Any further and he was sure to mess up and do something he'd regret. "... Go away." He turned his head away and said in a cold tone.

"Huh...? Not this again." Eren frowned. "Armin, it's okay. You won't hurt me." Eren assured.

"You don't know that." Armin started pulling the jacket off of himself to return it. The jacket got caught on a loose button on the front of his vest and he struggled, but it was enough time for Eren to move forward and grab at his wrists.

"Don't do that," He protested. Armin immediately froze, his eyes going wide at the lack of space between them. He stared up at Eren with surprise and utter terror, fearing the closeness Eren had suddenly made. He could smell Eren's breath as it left his lips, a hint of chocolate lingering on it. He could feel the individual fingerprints of the tips of his fingers as his skin slid around Armin's wrist. He felt a skin prickling sensation as Eren settled himself between Armin's legs, making sure he wouldn't close himself away. Funny enough, he couldn't feel the obvious water dripping on his and Eren's bodies.

"L-Let go," His voice was nearly gone, just a shriveled up and dry voice. It was raw like the emotion he saw in Eren's green eyes.

"No," He stubbornly replied. Armin gained enough sense and blood (or lack of) into his brain to start to fidget. His body writhed under Eren's touch for freedom, his eyes not breaking the penitence stare from Eren while he tried. His mouth was open, trying to get more pleas out, but he couldn't. He could only shake his head, disbelief still evident.

All he wanted was just one taste, just one. It was all he wanted, all he _needed._ Then he would be okay.

His throat was closing tightly. His eyesight was blurring and his body was quivering. His strength was weak but that didn't stop him from trying to thrash for freedom.

"Please... I don't want to hurt you!" He gasped and choked on the saliva filing his mouth.

"You won't hurt me." Eren declared. Armin whined and tried closing his legs, but Eren's body was in the way.

"Ahaa, please," He wailed. Eren swallowed, his body getting goose bumps, but whether he was cold or not was undecided.

He knew about these desires for vampires. Deny them of blood long enough and eventually it starts to hurt. It's worse than Phantom Pain, worse than a women giving birth. It's supposed to send a vampire into near hysteria. It was no surprise these days if a vampire was seen on a homicidal rage for blood.

New bloods were ignored and pushed away from society. They were unpredictable and dangerous and people thought it was better to leave them be to the Scouting Legion, the best vampires hunters the world had to offer.

What a terrible idea that was.

This was the result. Some poor, innocent boy was attacked, turned, and then left to die. What kind of world was this?

"Go away, please, I- Ahh..." Armin turned his head away, denying his desires. "P-Please...!"

"Go ahead." Eren uttered. Armin quieted down for a moment to look at Eren. He breathing was erratic, nearly covering what Eren had said.

"W-What...?" He asked in a mumble. Eren released his wrists which had gained a red color from the hold and popped open a few buttons on the top of his shirt. "N-No! Stop it!"

"It's alright." Eren said and pulled the collar of his shirt open. Armin screeched within his throat and grabbed at his shirt to button it up so he didn't have to see that perfect skin, but his fingers accidentally brushed against the warm flesh. Armin's hands shivered violently as he started touching the skin of his collar bone, delicately tracing the protruding bones and hallow spots. His skin was a perfect tan with no scars or freckles to mar his skin, and it looked incredibly enticing.

"Go ahead. It'll get rid of the initial pain, right?" Eren asked. "If so, then take what you need just to get rid of it." Eren said.

Armin dared to bare his fangs. His hands trembled against his skin while his fingers pushed against his wet shirt. He looked up at Eren, watching for any signs to stop. Eren wasn't giving him any of those.

"I don't mind." He informed. Armin felt his throat clench on him as he moved forward.

His lips parted to take a shuddering breath. His tongue then snuck out to run along the flesh of Eren's neck.

He tasted incredible.

Armin whimpered as his hands wrapped around his body to cling onto him. His hands found the ends of his shirt and pulled, effectively exposing more flesh and making him moan within his throat. The sound did something to Eren, something he knew he shouldn't have been feeling. He wrapped his arms around Armin's body, his hands waiting on the small of his back as the boy continued to lick at his skin.

"Eren..." Armin breathed into his ear. Eren swallowed again. His grip tightened around Armin as he felt the boy's fangs dip into the flesh of his neck.

It was indeed painful. Having two pieces of bone thrust into your skin would hurt anyone, but he didn't expect this. It felt like someone was burning his skin with hot iron rods. It felt like someone was running over an open wound with alcohol. It hurt like hell.

He held back a sound of pain and tried to relax as he felt the smaller boy shudder against his body and moan weakly into his neck. Armin made absurd sucking sounds that were strangely arousing; the moaning didn't help either and Eren would have liked to tell him to stop, but he knew that this was what the boy needed. He couldn't deny him that.

"Hng... Nhh..." One of Armin's hands found its way into Eren's hair and tugged so he could have more exposure to his neck, and the yank made Eren grunt at the force. He could feel Armin trembling against him, but it was slowing. He couldn't see much with the position they were in now, but he could tell that Armin's strength was coming back to him.

"Fuck..." Eren cursed. Armin reacted to his swearing by sucking a little harder. "Armin... I-I'm getting dizzy..." He murmured.

Armin tried to pull away, but his body was still craving total satisfaction. The pain was gone, but the desire was still there. The desire was clouding his better judgment, shrouding the world around him. He wanted more. He _needed_ more.

"A-Armin..." Eren's hands loosely pushed against Armin's body as he pleaded with him to stop. Armin moaned again, his body begging for more.

He wasn't ready to stop, but he didn't want to kill Eren. He didn't want to hurt him.

"Ngh..." Armin quickly dug his nails into his own hands, hoping the pain would be enough to make him stop.

To his relief, it did. The pain in his hand was enough to make him gasp, his teeth leaving Eren's body. He pushed against Eren's chest to get distance between them before he had the chance to sink his teeth back into his neck. Poor Eren, who was now dizzy with the world spinning around him, fell right back onto his ass. Armin pressed against the wall, his body quivering for more, but he denied himself. He saw the blood trickle down Eren's pale neck and it was all the more enticing, eliciting a pleading whimper from the boy for more, but with blood in his system it was easier to resist.

"I-I'm sorry," Armin apologized and hesitantly moved close to Eren. "I-I overdid it."

"No," Eren shook his head as he covered his neck to stop the bleeding. "It's alright... You didn't kill me, and that's all that matters." He laughed a little as he sat up, but not without some trouble. Armin helped him to sit with his legs under him, resisting the urge to lick off the remaining blood. Remembering the forgotten jacket, Armin pulled it off of himself to push against Eren's neck and stop the bleeding.

"Aw man, don't stain my jacket." Eren joked.

"I'm sorry, but it's all I can think of." Armin frowned, guilty for doing exactly what Eren didn't want.

"Don't do that." Eren reprimanded and touched Armin's cold cheek, his thumb leisurely brushing off the blood around his lips. It surprised Armin how warm Eren's hand was. "Thank you for doing it." He said with a smile. Armin gave him a sheepish smile, blood rushing to his cheeks.

"Should we... Go to the hospital?" Armin asked.

"No, that's only going to get you in trouble and me a hospital bill I could never pay." Eren took the jacket from Armin and pushed himself up onto his knees. "I'll go home and clean it off myself. That'll be easier." Armin watched with his big eyes as Eren fixed the shirt to sit properly on his shoulders while simultaneously covering the bite wound on his neck. Eren paused a moment to look at the vampire and he smirked when seeing the insatiable gaze he was getting.

"Is that your real eye color?" He asked while holding out his hand. Armin didn't hear the question at first. All he did was take Eren's hand within his own and let himself be pulled to his feet. It felt weird standing, because his legs were shaking so bad and were practically numb, but he managed with Eren's help. "Hm...?" Eren continued.

"Uh... What color are they now?" Armin asked.

"Blue," Eren let a moment pass to brush his fingers against Armin's chin, wiping away some the remaining blood that had dribbled past his pink lips. "Kind of like the ocean."

"Have you seen the ocean before?" Armin's eyes widened at the recognition.

"Only on TV; I never had the time or money to go in person." Eren snickered, hating to admit it.

"Oh..." Armin felt his heart sink a little. He still liked the comment, however.

"Alright, I'm seeing double, let's get out of here." Eren huffed as he staggered. Armin wrapped his arms around Eren's chest, holding onto him to keep him up straight.

"You mean you want me to come too?" Armin asked.

"Well, yeah, of course. I'm not leaving you out here to suffer." Eren chuckled from the surprised look on Armin's face.

Armin didn't have anything to reply him with. What was this strange boy doing? Taking in a new blood vampire who had just sucked his blood? Was he drunk or high?

"No I'm no drunk or high." Eren rolled his eyes and said as they began walking. Armin blushed when realizing that half of his thoughts were spoken out loud. "I may argue about it later, but I'm not cold hearted."

"No, you're not." Armin mumbled. Eren looked down at him with a smile as he tossed an arm over his slender shoulders. "Your blood would have tasted bad if that were the case." Armin continued.

Eren broke out into a loud, but sweet laugh. The comment may have been an unintentional truth, but it was a hysterical joke to Eren. Armin gave him another sheepish smile, pretending to go along with it.

"Ah..." Eren sighed as they walked out onto the street. Eren fixed the jacket hanging off of his neck to cover Armin's head.

"What are you doing?" Armin asked as he pushed the jacket off of his eyes.

"For some it may not be noticeable, but to trained eyes it's obvious that you aren't human." Eren said. "I'm covering you up so people can't see you." He explained.

"Are you saying you're trained to recognize vampires?" Armin asked. It would make sense. Eren didn't need a magnifying glass to be able to tell that he was among the dead.

Eren chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll tell you about that later. Let's just get out of the rain." Eren claimed. Armin nodded his head and went quiet. He decided that now wasn't the right time.

Eren said he would talk about it later and Armin would wait for that moment. He was relatively eager to hear about this boy, Eren, and what he had to say.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Again, really old. Like, writing from a year ago old. XD But hey! I'm really glad to see that you guys are enjoying it! Keep up those awesome reviews! :3**

**-Misty**

**Song of the day: Army of Love**

**By: Kerli**

* * *

**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

* * *

**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan)****  
**

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**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 2:**

**Pain can be Pleasurable****  
**

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"Do you want to go to the ocean someday?" Eren asked as they stepped into the elevator.

"Yes I do... I've never been outside of this city, so if I ever get the chance to leave, I want to go to the ocean first." Armin admitted sheepishly, his eyes falling to the floor in embarrassment.

"You've really never left before?" Eren squinted his eyes to stop the double images from playing tricks on his eyes. When he could see straight, he pushed a button for the thirty-ninth floor.

"No," The young vampire said.

"What about school field trips?" Eren asked. Armin helped him lean against the railing on the elevator wall so he could get a moment of respite. He may have been a vampire, but he was still weak.

"I was homeschooled. I never really left home unless it was with my parents or grandfather." Armin explained. Eren leaned his head back against the wall while watching the boy. He had noticed that Armin's eyes hadn't drifted from their natural blue since he drank from him and it surprised him. New bloods were insatiable. It was so hard to crave their appetites.

Armin was doing well controlling himself.

"So why don't you go home?" Eren asked. He was sure that any parent or grandparent would be caring enough to watch over their child, even if they were vampires. Didn't parents want the best for their kids?

Armin seemed sad and hesitant on answering. He sank back against the wall beside Eren as his hands settled on the cold railing.

"My parents are dead..." Boy did Eren regret asking that question. "The vampire who turned me... He killed them and my grandfather... I don't have a home to go to."

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to ask. I-I mean I did, but I..." Eren apologized with a torpor expression and voice. His babbling got Armin to smile weakly at him while shaking his head.

"No, it's alright. You've done a lot for me already. The least I can do is tell you what happened." Armin tried to keep his voice from shaking, but it was hard. Eren still noticed it. He wasn't blind to it.

"How old are you, Armin?" Eren wanted nothing more than to change the subject, and he felt now would have been a good time.

"I _was_ nineteen…" Armin replied.

"Nineteen...? Really? But you're-"

"I know, I know. I'm short." Armin chuckled a little, already reading Eren's thoughts.

"Ah, n-no, that's not it." Eren stuttered. "You are kind of short, although, my boss is shorter than you, but I just thought you were young because..." Armin tilted his head, watching as Eren flustered to get the words out. "You just... Have a child's innocence to you." He explained.

"Child's innocence?" Armin questioned. The elevator beeped finally for the fifteenth floor.

_'That couldn't have taken any longer?'_ Eren let out a sigh of relief when Armin finally looked away.

Armin helped Eren up, his arms wrapping around his waist like he did previously to pull Eren off of the wall. Eren draped his arm over Armin's shoulder like before, effectively holding himself up and keeping pressure on the open wound in his neck. The doors opened and instantly they froze at the sight of an older couple waiting for the elevator. Armin helped Eren out while keeping his head down and hidden under his jacket. Eren simply ignored them as they left.

He could hear them murmur things, but they were too quiet for him to hear. Armin, however, with his new and stronger sense of hearing, heard everything. The words he heard were not too kind and it showed by the look on his face.

"Ignore them..." Eren whispered. Armin looked up at him as Eren straightened his back a little. "They're just a bunch of old hags." He said, louder than before to intentionally get their attention.

"What are you doing?" Armin whispered with panic.

"Well it's true. They never let me play any music out loud." Eren said. This seemed to bring a smile to his lips. Armin smiled at the statement, getting Eren to smile a little too.

The two of them stumbled along five or six doors to Eren's apartment. Eren fumbled around in his pants pocket for his keys, his dizziness making it rather difficult to concentrate. He pulled the keys up to his face to look for the right one, and once finding it, he inserted the key into the lock and it clicked open. He had to use a little force getting it out, but he got it and opened the door to his apartment. He looked inside, staying halfway out while making sure Armin didn't go in.

"Mikasa...?" He called out. Armin listened, but there was no response. Eren eventually sighed and entered the apartment with Armin. "Good, she's not home." He muttered.

"Who is Mikasa?" Armin asked as he looked around the room. As Eren stepped away from Armin to turn the lights on, Armin let his eyes wander on the apartment.

It was a voluminous apartment, bigger than any he had ever seen. The apartment was painted in white and the walls were spotless while being bordered with oak paneling. The floors were more wood, creaking under the added pressure of their weight. There were a couple of throw rugs on the ground, sitting under a large couch and cabinet with a TV resting in it. There was one under a kitchen table that could hold up to six or seven people.

"Mikasa is my sister. Well, not by blood. My family took her in when we were young so she's been with me forever."

If that was all the people living in this apartment, why did they have such a spacious one with such spacious stuff?

"Would she not like seeing me here?" Armin asked while keeping his spot by the door. He didn't want to move around while water was dripping off of him, but his eyes kept wandering around the room he was in.

"Ah, that's another thing we're going to have to talk about." Eren chuckled as he walked over to the nearest closet and opened it. Inside was a washer and dryer, rather big and expensive looking to Armin's eyes. Eren tossed his jacket into the washer and then unbuttoned his shirt to throw it in too. Blood had stained the collar of his shirt and he wanted to get it out before Mikasa saw it.

"Okay..." Armin wondered what it was that Eren was hiding from him. He kept saying they'd talk about it later, and he was wondering when later would be. Did later mean in the next few minutes, hours? Did it even mean in the next few years. He didn't have that much patience, although, he had that much time.

"How long have you been a vampire?" Eren asked as he set his keys down on the nearby table. Armin quietly stepped further into the room, his small footfall making him nearly silent if it weren't for the wet squelch of water under his feet. Eren hadn't even noticed it before, but his new friend (if he could call him that) wasn't even wearing shoes, just a pair of gray socks that were well past their date. Armin twiddled his fingers together by his lap, tightening them with anxiety. "Well...?"

"... Two weeks." Armin eventually answered. Eren physically stopped in place and turned back to look at him. He had a stern and questioning look on his face, berating even. Armin was rather frightened by the look.

"When was the last time you had blood?" The taller teen asked. The surprise was evident in his voice.

"... I-I haven't had any at all... Not since tonight at least." Armin looked away from Eren's face; He was quite frightening when he wanted to be.

"Are you serious?" Eren had a deadpanned expression on his face, his eyes wide and mouth slack; he was utterly shocked. Now he understood why Armin was in such a dire state when he found him. He shouldn't have been mentally capable of putting words together let alone begging for someone to flee from him. He really was incredible with controlling himself.

"Yes... I think the only blood I had was by accident. I had scratched the person who turned me and... It was under my fingernails." Armin looked down at his hands as he spoke.

Eren's eyes fell to Armin's bitten-to-the-stub fingernails. They were short and completely destroyed. The poor boy had done everything in his power to survive on the blood etched under his nails so he wouldn't go after other humans. He must have been desperate.

Eren then understood the comment Armin made earlier about the cold-hearted blood. Armin had tasted the blood of someone whose heart no longer beat. His comment had been a serious one.

Pure bloods were the only other vampires to have blood in their systems. New bloods had some too, but it took a few weeks for it to eventually drain out of their bodies. Once that happened, they were forever empty and cold.

"So..." Armin began. He paused to pick out the words he wanted to use, but he couldn't think of the right ones.

"You want to know about Mikasa?" Eren asked as he started walking into another room. Armin followed behind closely with a nod of the head. Eren opened the door to his room and made a b-line straight for the closet.

It was another large room, fully furnished with a king sized bed, a desk, chair, a standing lamp, a bookshelf that wasn't very full except for a few school books, a dresser at the foot of the bed, and a TV hanging off of the wall. Armin was also in awe of this room.

_'What does he do to live in a place like this?' _Armin wondered.

"I can tell you about Mikasa, but you can't freak out." Eren said. Armin's eyes fell back on Eren, remembering he was still in the room. His eyes fell to the muscles in his lower back and shoulders where they flexed and relaxed as he searched for dry clothes in his closet.

Unlike himself, short, scrawny with no amount of muscle or meat on him, Eren had some muscle definition to him. He wasn't overly muscular or big and buff, he was just about right in his eyes. He was a good, healthy size with a strong upper body. The abs he had also proved this when he turned around with a long, white, button up shirt in his hand.

"Here, put this on. It'll be too big, but I didn't think you'd mind." Eren said softly. Armin nodded his head and took the shirt from him.

"Thank you." He answered. He un-buttoned his vest and shirt and pulled them both off. The cold air hitting his wet skin was uninviting and he hated the sensation, so he quickly put the crisp shirt on.

Eren was right. This shirt was three sizes bigger than him. The sleeves covered his hands and the tail of the shirt went a foot past his hips. Armin didn't want the rest of Eren's shirt getting wet, so he unbuckled his pants and pulled them down his thin and pale legs. All that was left was the shirt Eren lent him and his underwear, which were slightly damp from the rain already. He felt so exposed, but he considered himself lucky that he had this to wear and nothing at all. He also considered himself lucky that he was alive to wear anything at all

"She's a vampire hunter." Eren suddenly stated rather bluntly. It took a minute for the words to process correctly into his head, but once that was done, Armin's eyes widened at his sentence.

"She's _what?_" He exclaimed. Eren turned around while donning a long sleeved shirt and looked at Armin. He wouldn't lie and say that he didn't blush when he saw the boy in front of him and partially naked. He looked away for a moment and looked around his room, looking for something to distract him so he didn't ogle at the sight.

"She's a vampire hunter." He said again. "You may have heard of her. She's rather famous for what she does." Eren explained.

"Wait, Mikasa... _Ackerman?"_ Armin asked. Eren was still looking away when he nodded his head. "_Mikasa Ackerman_ is your sister?" Armin didn't mean to shout, but how could he not? Now he knew why Eren lived in such a place as luxurious as this. It was because of Mikasa's profession.

"Yep, like I said though, she's not related by blood-"

"You live with her?" Armin continued to panic.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And you brought me here?" Armin went straight for the door, hoping to escape before said person could come and kill him. Eren quickly stopped him by standing in front of the door, holding his arms out to block the closed door.

"It's okay! She's not going to hurt you so long as she doesn't know you're here!" Eren explained.

"She's one of the best hunters though! She'll know I'm here before she can even see me!" Armin tried pushing his way past Eren, his hand reaching for the doorknob, but the boy was physically stronger than he was. "I'm not ready to die!" Armin cried as he tried again.

"I won't let her kill you!" Eren hollered over Armin's frantic panicking. He grabbed Armin by his shoulders and forcibly pushed him back. When he looked at Armin, the smaller boy was near tears. He was really scared. "I won't let her hurt you, I promise." Eren said, dropping his voice low in a soothing voice.

Armin swallowed a lump of fear constricting his breathing and stared into Eren's green eyes. Eren offered him a reassuring smile, something that did help calm his nerves a little.

"Here, let me show you something." Eren let go of Armin's shoulders in favor of holding Armin's hand. The boy blushed as he was pulled along to a cabinet next to Eren's door. Eren pulled the first picture he could find of him and his sister together and held it up for him. "Here," He offered.

Armin took the picture frame from him and looked at it. It was a picture of Eren and, who he assumed was, Mikasa, as kids; they couldn't have been any more than ten. The two were sitting at a table, a birthday cake in front of them with Mikasa blowing out the candles. Eren seemed to be clapping his hands for her while cheering.

"She's heartless when it comes to hunting, but she's human. She does have feelings." Eren said. Armin brushed his thumb over the picture of the two, a smile curling on his lips.

"You both look really happy." Armin mumbled and Eren smiled in return. "Hey, who is this?" Armin pointed to the third person in the picture.

There was an older woman in the back of the photo who adorned a beautiful smile. She had long, brown hair and big brown eyes, and the similarities with her and Eren were almost a little frightening.

"Oh, that was my mother." Eren's smile faded to something distant. For Armin it was unsettling to see.

"Was...?" It felt wrong to pry into his past, but Armin was curious. He regretted doing so when seeing the smile fade completely from Eren's lips.

"She died when Mikasa and I were nine..." He said somberly. Armin frowned at the news. "Just after this photo was taken actually," Eren pointed out.

"I'm sorry for asking..." Armin apologized.

"It's alright... It's not something that gets to me anymore." Eren took the frame from Armin's hands and placed it back on the hutch. He walked away back to his closet to continue changing. Armin stood by the hutch for a little longer, his mind wandering around what it was Eren had said while his eyes fell back onto the photo of his mother.

It was obvious that it was painful for Eren to think of. Talking about it must have been worse. He regretted asking about his mother, but there was still so many things left unanswered. He wanted to know how she died and he wanted to know who stayed by their side after that. Someone else must have been there: a father, an aunt or uncle, anyone. Leaving two nine year olds alone to fend for themselves was wrong and illegal...

But was that what happened?

Armin turned around to face Eren. The boy had pulled off his pants to pull new ones on. He was smiling like the conversation hadn't happened and like he wasn't in pain.

What a facade that was.

Armins's eyes fell to his legs. Besides being tan and muscular, there were old and white scars raked along his flesh. Armin's eyes glinted with curiosity (and slight bloodlust) as he stared.

"Hey, Eren..." He murmured.

"Hm...?" Eren stopped with the pants halfway up his legs when he heard Armin's voice.

"What are those from?" Armin asked. Eren gave him a confused look before looking down at his legs. He pointed to his legs and to where the tiny scars were and Armin nodded his head.

"Oh, uh..." Eren faltered from answering.

"Whatever it is, I can take it..." Armin walked back to Eren's side as Eren stood up. Eren decided to ignore his pants for now.

"I... Used to hunt vampires too," Eren said. Armin didn't seem all too surprised by the information, simply standing there and waiting for Eren to finish. He knew Eren was leaving something out. "And I... Still do..." He finished.

Still Armin didn't seem surprised. He had a feeling that, that was the case. Eren had picked out him being a vampire quickly, and after hearing about some traumatic things in his past, hearing that Eren hunted vampires wasn't all too surprising. Armin figured that he would probably do the same had he been given the opportunity to. What Eren had to say wasn't all too shocking anymore.

"Well...?" Eren tilted his head and asked.

"Well what?" Armin retorted.

"You're not... _Afraid?_" Eren asked. Armin looked down to his fingers and then back up to Eren.

"You haven't given me a reason to be scared." He answered. Eren relaxed his shoulders from the answer, a small smile spreading across his lips. "Do you hunt vampires like me?" Armin asked.

And his tension returned.

"No... I used to when I first started but..." Eren trailed off.

"But what…?" The blond provoked. Eren looked at Armin, his gaze distant again.

"... There are more out there just like you, you know?" Eren asked. Armin remained quiet so he could continue. "Just like you and... And babies and kids and old people... They were forced into this. None of them asked for this curse and we're just supposed to get rid of them?" Eren huffed and waved his hand.

"That's not right. No one wants to die, even if you are technically dead already. Those people don't deserve that." Armin's eyes slowly widened to the words coming out of Eren's mouth. Such strong and determined words they were, and from someone who seemed so carefree. "Mikasa isn't cold hearted; she just does what she has to. I stopped killing new bloods because... I _couldn't_ do it."

"I only go after pure bloods now. They're the ones who break the laws and go after humans. Sure, new bloods can't control themselves, but they can't help it. Pure bloods have been the way they are for centuries. They can face the consequences."

Armin's eyes filled with tears. He didn't know why, but he was so moved by what Eren said that he wanted to cry. He had never felt such overwhelming emotions from such simple words before. This was something new to him. It was new, but greatly appreciated.

"Hey, a-are you okay?" Eren asked. "Your eyes are red. Are you thirsty?" Eren asked. Armin laughed at his own stupidity and wiped his eyes from the tears threatening to fall.

"No, no, I'm okay; better than okay actually." Armin sniffled and laughed again. He looked to Eren with a heartwarming smile (ironic to him since his heart was cold).

"Are you sure?" Eren asked. Armin nodded his head and looked back to Eren's scarred up legs.

"So those are from battling pure bloods?" He asked, hoping to change the subject. Eren nodded his head as he looked at his legs.

"Yeah, I only got scratches and stuff." Eren slightly boasted, like the scars were trophies. Indeed, most were small, white little things that probably never even needed stitches. Armin's eyes trailed up his legs, following the little "trophies" up his legs until they disappeared behind Eren's undergarments, peaking his interest.

"Are these the only ones?" Armin asked. Eren shook his head and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a whole new set of scars.

Armin's eyes widened and his lips frowned at the bigger, more serious scars. These looked more like knife wounds, or dare he think, teeth wounds. He could see even the tiniest little spots where the stitches were sewn into his skin. One scar went from Eren's wrist and up past his elbow on his left arm. This one was one Armin paid close attention to. He took Eren's arm within his nimble hands and ran his fingers over the pale and tainted flesh of the marred skin. He felt Eren shiver beneath his fingers.

"Did that hurt?" He asked. Eren shook his head.

"No, I actually can't feel anything in those spots anymore." He confessed. "The nerves are dead and they have been for a while now." He shrugged as he added.

Armin stepped closer to get a better look at the flesh. His hearing may have been better, but his eye sight still sucked. He was going to need glasses eventually.

"It must have hurt..." Armin remarked.

"It only did for a few minutes. When you get injuries like this your body tends to go into shock. Everything goes by really fast after that and your whole body goes numb." Eren explained sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck; he swore he could feel the weight of Armin's intense eyes staring down at his scars.

"Was this the worst one?" The young vampire looked up to Eren and asked. Eren shook his head again and rolled his sleeves down. After that, he took his shirt off by yanking the bottom of it over his head. Armin hadn't seen the scar at first since Eren had his back turned to him previously, but with Eren facing him now, the scar was in plain view.

The scar was over his heart. It covered a good portion of his shoulder where the neck connected, plus the collar bone and down near his right bicep. It was a mess of skin that looked like it had been mangled by a rabid animal. It wasn't well put together, like he hadn't even gotten it stitched up. There were flakes of skin still hanging off of the scar, previously part of the injury, but now just loose pieces that weren't important.

It was truly a sight horrid to see. How Armin missed it when he first drank from Eren he hadn't a clue. He must have been infatuated with desire, because this scar was too obvious to miss.

"My God..." Armin mumbled. His hands shook as he reached up to touch the scar. He hesitated, but Eren assured him it was alright with his hand resting on the vampires shoulder. "What happened?" He was so utterly horrified that he could barely breathe. (It wasn't like he needed it)

"I was sixteen. I actually saw a pure blood going after someone. I was so angry that I forgot I didn't have anything to fight with, but I still went after her. I saved the guy's life, but I nearly lost mine." Eren revealed. Armin swallowed cold air as his fingers traced the edge of the scar.

"We did this..." Armin mumbled. Eren snorted and shook his head.

"No, you didn't do anything. I already said that it was a pure bloods fault, not yours." Eren curled a finger under Armin's chin and pushed up so Armin would look at him. Armin did just that, his blue eyes connecting with Eren's green for a fraction of a second. That fraction turned into a whole, and then that whole turned into thirty seconds.

Eren wasn't quite sure what happened or how it happened, it just happened. That hand that had been sitting against Armin's shoulder fell to his waist. He noted the subtle curve in Armin's body, almost like a girls, before pulling. It didn't take much force for Armin to fall against his chest. Their eyes still remained connected, even with the little space between them. Armin's hands lay against Eren's shoulders, trembling from the contact.

He still wasn't one hundred percent sure that he could control himself. Even though he had been doing well so far, that didn't mean he wouldn't suddenly snap.

"Hey," Eren said.

"Hi..." Armin replied. Eren chuckled and leaned forward, brushing his lips against Armin's. The vampire let out a small gasp from the sensation.

This day had just been full of new and interesting things for him.

Eren did it again with a little more force, making Armin shiver. Being tired with the simple touches, Eren pressed his lips fully to his. The sensation sent almost painful waves of pleasure through Armin's body, making his body go numb. Armin felt like his legs had turned into goo and they buckled from under him. He wrapped his arms around Eren's neck for balance, mindful of the wound still on his neck as Eren wrapped both arms around his waist. One hand rested on the small of his back while the other snuck away to sit on his hip, intentionally sneaking under the rim of his borrowed shirt to brush against the skin lining his bone.

Armin liked that. He didn't know why, because he had never done anything like this in his life (the closest being kissing his parents goodbye before they left for work), but he liked it. He definitely wouldn't mind more.

And more Eren gave.

Eren pressed firmly against his back, making sure Armin was as close as possible as their heads tilted. The sweet skin beneath his lips parted barely, giving him the perfect chance to coax Armin's mouth open more. Armin followed his lead, letting the breath he didn't need be sucked on rather forcefully. It was forceful enough to admit a small moan from him.

The sound did something to Eren. He felt a small amount of pleasure go down to the place between his legs, exciting him. The rest of his body shivered even though he wasn't cold. Like he had said before, Armin had a child's innocence to him, but that didn't stop him from being so extremely arousing. What the hell was Eren supposed to do, other than be filled with a lustful tension, when he was presented with someone like Armin?

Eren snaked his tongue into the vampire's mouth without even thinking twice. The boy's fangs barely scrapped against his tongue before Armin joined along. Their tongues rolled together in their mouths, dancing in such sinful dances that brought up another one of those electrifying sounds from Armin's throat. Eren's hands moved to rub over the fabric covering Armin's rear, kneading the skin in his hands while his leg moved between Armin's trembling legs. He pressed his thigh against Armin's private area while pulling him forward, effectively grinding the small erection he had against his leg.

Armin moaned again, louder and sultry. It was a sound that was becoming music to Eren's ears. He wanted to hear more and repeated the process. Armin groaned as his hips were kicked into high gear. His body finally caught up with the situation enough to take control by moving his hips against Eren's leg without much aid from the taller boy. Their kiss finally broke, giving Eren the chance to breathe and Armin to finally release the moans Eren kept sucking away.

"Eren," He sighed through a pant. Eren shivered in response. His hand left Armin's butt in favor of moving to grasp for the throbbing length under his underwear. He stroke the flesh through the fabric a couple of times, getting a good reply from the young vampire as he went along.

Armin tilted his head back, exposing the pale column of his neck for Eren to nibble on. Eren brushed his blond hair out of the way and licked a small path just under his hairline. He could see the goose bumps rise on Armin's flesh as a result.

"Fuck," He cursed. He was hard right now, painfully too. He was desperate for a release, but he was so enthralled by what he was doing that he didn't want to stop long enough to give himself pleasure. Armin was so tantalizingly arousing that it hurt. What could he possibly do?

Eren used his free hand to yank Armin's face forward, planting his lips to Armin's in a desperate kiss. Armin gasped in response, giving a light tug on Eren's hair. Their tongues danced again within their mouths, Eren's winning the silent battle for dominance. With an anxiety he didn't know he could feel Eren's hands began pulling at the buttons of Armin's buttoned shirt. So hasty, in fact, he didn't care if it was his own shirt and it was ruined. He pulled on it, tearing some of the buttons in order to get it off.

Armin liked how he reacted. It was like a mixture of dominant arousal and nervousness. His movements weren't as smooth or controlled, and at the moment, Armin couldn't give a flying shit if he was controlled or not. His own mind was muffled with a burning, but tender heat. His body was aching with a desire for something other than blood. To him it was the best sensation in the world at the moment, and the way Eren tore his shirt off, well if he were to die at that moment, he would die a very happy vampire.

"Armin," Eren pulled the rest of his shirt off while his voice was muffled by Armin's lips. At some point they had both fallen to their knees, the muscles in their legs no longer working. Armin felt his back hit the floor and grunted as Eren hovered over him. Eren's green eyes looked over his body, greedy, needy, and hungry. Armin felt the weight of his stare crushing him against the floor, but he didn't care. He didn't want those eyes to leave him, not even for a minute.

He reached up his arms, holding them and waiting for Eren. Eren gave him a genuine smile and let himself be pulled into a tender embrace. He engulfed Armin into his arms, feeling the cold skin under his fingertips. With both of them left in only their underwear, mostly everything was out in the open. The touches were raw and hot, a burning sensation like having someone run hot water over you being left behind.

Within their embrace, their hips connected, grinding against each other like the adolescent teenagers they were. Eren groaned into Armin's ear, his hot breath ghosting over his skin. Armin whined as he rolled his hips up, his fingers raking against Eren's neck and unintentionally scratching open the healing wound he made earlier. The scent of fresh blood hit him like a ton of bricks, and with fright he pushed back against Eren's shoulders.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He cried. Eren sat up, laughing as he covered his neck to hide the blood dripping down his shoulder.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it." Eren was panting from their previous exertions. He had been so out of he that he hadn't noticed the red color that had replaced Armin's eyes and the trembling for blood and lust. He really wanted to continue what they had been doing, but he knew Armin wouldn't be able to unless he ate. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything; he couldn't even try, so it was an inevitable outcome.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry," Armin kept mumbling. Eren lifted his hand from his neck and held it out, showing the blood gathered in his palm and dusting his fingers.

"Here, have it." He offered. Armin frantically shook his head, but Eren brushed his bloody hand against Armin's lips. Just a bit dribbled past his part lips and he gave in, his body winning the war. He began licking at Eren's hand, his body quivering from need and arousal. He made sure that not a speck of blood was left on the taller boy's hand, getting between his fingers and in his palm.

Eren couldn't help the twitch of his erection under his underwear. Watching that pink tongue slither out of his kiss-swollen lips was erotic in so many ways. It didn't occur to him once that maybe, just maybe, what they were doing was wrong, and if it was... _Oh well._

Once gone, Armin's eyes, which were a mixture of blue and red, lifted to look at the remaining blood on Eren's neck. He swallowed thickly, his body shivering at the sight, causing Eren to chuckle.

"Go ahead, just don't bite down again." Eren warned with a stifled laugh. Armin didn't bother hesitating this time. He lunged forward and latched his lips onto Eren's neck to suck on the open wound. The crimson liquid filled his mouth and he moaned loudly with pleasure. "Aha, a little impatient, are we?" The brown-haired boy asked.

Armin only sucked harder. He wrapped his legs around Eren's hips and rolled his own forward, hoping for more than just the pleasure from blood. Eren grunted, his erection twitching within his underwear again.

Screw waiting. He ran out of patience to do that. What was patience anyway?

Eren wrapped his arms around Armin's body, his hands holding onto his thighs as he stood with Armin in his grasp. The young vampire stopped sucking at the wound, his thirst for blood satiated for the moment. He pressed his bloody lips to Eren's neck and kissed at his tan skin as he felt the bed dip under him. Eren set him down gently and moved over him, forcing Armin onto his back. Armin pulled Eren right back to where he belonged, which was right in his arms, and kissed him with all of the desire for his body he craved.

Eren didn't mind the blood on his lips. He simply ignored it as he hooked his fingers under the boy's already damp underwear and pulled them down his legs. As he pulled, he broke away from the kiss to press his lips to Armin's hips and thighs. Armin's shivered with delight, goose bumps rising on his flesh as Eren's lips came dangerously close to his heated member.

"E-Eren," He let out. Eren tossed his underwear away to be forgotten about and took Armin's length in his hand. He teasingly stroked in a slow manner, eyes lighting up as he watched the response from Armin. The boy's back arched off of the bed, his hands clung to the sheets by his head, and his teeth nibbled on his bottom lip, suppressing a moan. He was an aphrodisiac all on his own.

"I want to hear you," Eren murmured, his lips centimeters away from giving the young vampire a pleasure he had never experienced. Armin whined at the hot breath simply caressing him.

"Please," He panted. Eren hummed in content and gave an experimental lick to the head of his member. It wasn't like he had done this with a man before; in fact, he had never been with anyone this intimately before, and so it was apparent that he wasn't too self-assured about touching another man's penis. However, when he saw the response it provoked out of Armin, he would do whatever it was to this boy's body to see it again and again.

"Hng- Aha!" Armin cringed, his muscles flexing and releasing all at once. Tears beaded at the edges of his eyes as he tossed his head back. It felt incredible.

Eren smirked as he cupped his mouth over the tip. He sucked for a moment and then licked at the small amounts of pre-cum spilling from the opening. It tasted a little funny, but he could get over it quickly. He pressed a hand against Armin's hips to keep them steady as he took in more of the boy's length. Armin fidgeted under him, moaning and looking for a release. He panted while finding Eren's hand to hold on to. Eren gave it a light squeeze as he sucked.

"Hm, Eren, I-I-" Armin was cut off as Eren looked up at him. The glazed over look in his eyes was so striking that he simply lost the words he had. Eren closed his eyes as he hummed around him, the vibrations making him cry out and toss his head back into the mattress. "D-Don't stop," He stuttered.

Eren appreciated the order and he wasn't about to go against it. He bobbed his head up and down, reveling in Armin's delicious moans. While he did that, a hand of his traveled up Armin's body, pressing delicate touches to his skin until his fingers were on his lips. Armin's parted lips took his fingers in without question, sucking frivolously and coating them in hot saliva. Eren pulled his hand away after a minute or two, rubbing his fingers together to feel the saliva.

Without much warning, he began rubbing his index fingers against the puckered opening between Armin's legs. He felt the body underneath him writhe and he pulled away to breathe. The cold hitting his hot member made Armin whine at the loss of Eren's wonderful mouth.

"I'm impatient too, don't worry." Eren assured as he pushed his index finger into Armin's body. Armin's eyes widened, his back arched, and his mouth opened wide to let out a raged gasp. It was a completely new and strange sensation. Having a finger shoved inside of him, he assumed, would feel weird in any manner, but if that was true, then why was there a thrumming anticipation for more? "Does it hurt?" Eren asked, a little breathless.

"N-Not really," Armin shuffled his hips, trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Tell me if it hurts." Eren murmured as he pushed in his middle finger. Eren began scissoring his fingers in the hot flesh that encased them, causing Armin to moan weakly at the feeling. "How about now?" Eren asked.

Armin replied with a shake of the head. There was no pain; some discomfort, but no pain. After all he had been through, this was nothing.

"I-It feels g-good," Armin moaned as Eren curled his finger within him. Hearing the words come from Armin's mouth had a shiver run up Eren's spine. He repeated the action over and over again, hoping to hear more.

More he got.

After pushing in his ring finger and curling his fingers up, Armin nearly screamed when something inside of him was brushed. Eren smirked as he bent down to start taking care of his neglected length. His lips closed over the head of his leaking member and sucked vigorously, earning a startled gasp from Armin.

"E-Eren aha-!" A moan filled his mouth, stopping himself from speaking.

Eren couldn't believe that Armin could make such sounds. They sounded so beautiful and created an intense heat in his abdomen that was almost painful. He could suffer an early release from his cries alone. His member was aching against his underwear, begging for freedom and attention between his legs.

Without wanting to make the boy orgasm too soon, he sat back on his knees, his hand slowly stroking to keep the heat going. He leaned up to press his lips to the shell of Armin's ear and nibbled on his earlobe gently. Meanwhile his free hand pulled on the rim of his undergarments, testing the waters to see if Armin was okay with going any further than what they were doing now.

"What do you want?" He asked in a low tone. Armin whined as he dared to look Eren in the eyes. Eren's eyes were so dark, his pupils wide and the green hue of his eyes barely visible. They were completely fogged over with passion and desire, something Armin was sure his eyes looked like. His own eyes were glassy with tears that slipped past his cheeks and fell into his hair and onto the bed below him. He knew that much.

"You," He answered honestly. He wrapped his arms around Eren's shoulders, not breaking the eye contact. "I only w-want you," He stuttered.

Eren's smile was beautiful, genuine, and real. It complimented his face perfectly and he dared to close his eyes to the sight so he could press his lips to Eren's. He could feel Eren remove his fingers from his body and then replace them with the hot tip of his erection, which pressed against his entrance. After making it wet with his own spit, Eren pulled his legs up to rest over his shoulders, purposely breaking the kiss so they could look each other in the eyes.

"Are you ready?" Eren asked. Armin nodded his head and grabbed at Eren's hand. Their fingers laced together and Eren bent down in order to kiss him again. As they kissed, Eren slowly pushed himself in Armin's body.

He could tell that his new friend (could he even call him that?) was in pain when Armin's nails dug into the back of his hand, so with as much willpower as he could muster up, he held as still as a statue, minus the quivering in his muscles and his frantic breathing. It was so hard not to move, however. Armin was so tight around him, even after being stretched by his fingers. He was so hot and warm inside himself that it took most of his energy not to release on the spot, and to top it off, the young boy was moaning into his mouth.

He begged whatever god there was that he could hold out a little longer.

"F-Fuck," He panted against Armin's lips. Armin turned his head to the side, panting for air when he really didn't need to. "It feels s-so good inside you, A-Armin." Eren mumbled. His hot breath fanned against Armin's jaw, and Armin nearly lost all of his self-control.

"P-Please," Armin begged breathlessly. "Please, Eren-"

A strong pulse of pleasure hit him so painfully from those words. Eren pulled out until only the tip was in and then pushed back in. Armin gasped at the sensation, his back arching slightly into Eren's chest.

After this, Eren found a slow, steady rhythm that Armin could follow. He thrust against the young vampire, the pleasure invading his senses every time that round flesh encased his aching erection. He stared at the boy under him, his eyes capturing those big, blue ones in a desperate hold. Armin didn't dare to do anything to break that stare. It was only when Eren's length became buried so deep inside him that it brushed against that wonderful bundle of nerves and made Armin's eyes flutter shut while his head fell back into the mattress. He let out a long, raged, and distressed moan, an obvious plea for more.

Eren aimed for that spot as he sped up a little. The pace only derived more moans from Armin. His nails were practically clawing the skin of his hand off. Eren wasn't sure if Armin could smell the fresh blood or not, or if he was just too preoccupied not to notice.

Eren let Armin's legs fall to the side so their chests could be pressed together. He grabbed for Armin's length between them and pumped him in a slower motion while his thrusting only seemed to speed up. Armin wrapped his arms over Eren's neck for a better grip as he started crying with pleasure. It all felt so good, too good. He wasn't going to last much longer.

"I-I can't... Ngh... I'm gonna- ah!" He couldn't get the words out. The pleasure was so overwhelming that he couldn't do anything but moan in senseless pleasure. Eren knew what he meant though. He was so close. He had been close for a long time now, but he knew he couldn't last any longer.

"M-Me too," Eren panted before sucking on Armin's neck. The pressure left a red bruise in its wake, but neither seemed to care. Eren grabbed at Armin's hips and pushed into his body with all of his strength and speed. Armin clung at his arms, grasping for something, anything he could as he felt his release grow close. Their skin slapping together was loud, the bed began to creak out from under them, and their moans increased in velocity. Armin gave a good, loud, and long cry of pleasure as his seed spilled onto his and Eren's stomachs. He could feel his muscles around Eren clenched so tightly, leaving Eren no time to pull out before releasing inside of the boy.

He let out his own drawled-out moan as he came, spilling his fluids relentlessly into Armin and marking the boy. He hadn't even noticed that his fingers had pushed down so hard on his hips that it left angry, red marks on his skin. Eren collapsed onto Armin, his body shaking in a post-orgasm bliss. Armin was gasping for breath under him, his body numb, but still twitching. He felt the wet liquid between their bodies and unconsciously wrapped his arms around the taller boy, looking for comfort. Eren smiled against the skin of his neck as he wrapped his arms around Armin and kept him close.

"T-That was amazing..." Armin breathed out, his mind fogged and fuzzy to everything except for what just happened. Eren mumbled something incoherent and kissed his neck. He heard the tired giggle from Armin and it caused him to smile. "Eren..." Armin murmured.

"Hm...?" Armin could laugh at how tired Eren sounded. He couldn't help but smile at how, for lack of a better word, _cute_ it was.

"I'm sorry... Your hand..." Armin pointed out. Eren lifted his head up to see the damage Armin had done, which wasn't much. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was; the cuts were more like scratches that simply beaded small amounts of blood. Eren smiled weakly and held his hand up for Armin.

"Here," He offered. Armin's eyes lingered on his hand and Eren noticed that his eyes weren't red; they were blue. He was calm and quiet and not at all panicked. Now that Eren thought about it, Armin hadn't seemed all too interested in his blood since his last feeding. He had been doing well controlling his desires.

Armin quietly took his hand and carefully lapped at the blood with this tongue. Armin's small licks became lingering kissed as he pressed his lips to the scratches over and over again apologetically. There was a small sting to it, but it was nothing Eren couldn't handle. Eren quietly leaned forward and kissed Armin's cheek, unintentionally missing his lips. Armin smiled as he laced their fingers together and returned the kiss.

Eren was generous enough to roll off of Armin once their kiss broke. Armin may not have needed air, but Eren did, and sitting on his new found lover didn't help any. He curled up by Armin's side as Armin wrapped his sweaty arms around his body. He tucked his head into Eren's neck, not for blood, but just for the tepid comfort Eren's body had to offer. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard something click.

Armin lifted his head up to look around. It wasn't Eren; no, the sound was too far away, something that his new hearing could pick up on.

"What's wrong, Armin?" Eren asked. Armin sat up more, his arms falling by Eren's chest.

"You said you lived with your sister…" Armin stated quietly.

"Yeah, why…?"

"Eren, I'm home!" A voice called out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Still old writing, still old writing. I hate it. XD**

**Song of the day: **

* * *

**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

* * *

**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) ****  
**

* * *

**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 3:**

**Don't let your Sister Know**

* * *

"Eren, I'm home!" It was Mikasa's voice. The clicking Armin had heard was her keys in the apartment door as she unlocked it, opened it, and the shut the door behind her.

"Shit...!" Eren whispered in panic. He pushed himself up onto his tired and achy muscles and searched around for a shirt, any shirt to wear.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I am so dead!" Armin panicked as he hid behind the edge of Eren's bed.

"Well, to be honest, you're already dead. You're just going to be dead_er_." Eren tried to joke. He slipped on an old and dirty shirt that had been sitting on his floor (for God knows how long) as he stood to go to his closet. He quickly tossed on some new underwear and pants and then tossed a new shirt over to Armin. "Put this on and hide. I'm going to make sure she doesn't come in here."

"Okay." Armin pulled the shirt over his head. It was another shirt that was three sizes bigger than himself. This one wasn't a button up, however, and had a few simple strings to tie the collar of the green top together.

"Stay quiet," Eren said as he opened his door. Just as he turned to look out, the black eyes of his sister were right in front of him, boring holes into his head. "Gah!" He shut the door behind him so quickly that it knocked into his own ass.

"Who are you talking to, Eren?" Mikasa asked while looking over his shoulder.

"N-No one!" Eren's voice cracked at the higher pressure he put on it.

"You were talking to someone." Mikasa said, her voice stern.

"I-I was on the phone!" Eren improvised. Mikasa obviously wasn't buying any of his crap. She reached for the doorknob, but Eren knocked her hand away.

"Eren-"

"Don't go in there!" Eren pushed at his sister's shoulders, trying to get her to leave as quickly as possible.

"Why?" She asked curtly.

"B-Because it's dirty! Really, really dirty!" Eren improvised again.

"Eren, did you bring another stray animal home?" Mikasa swatted her brother's hands away. Eren stilled for a moment, turning his head to the side as if the answer were in the direction he was looking.

"... You could say that..." He muttered.

"So help me, Eren." Mikasa rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. "What did I tell you about doing stuff like this?" She asked as she started walking out of the hallway. Eren's shoulders visibly slumped over with relief.

"I'm sorry, but I-" He was stopped when Mikasa stopped in front of him, making him run into her.

"You always say that." She huffed with irritation.

"I know, b-but it was better than being stranded in the rain like me!" Eren said with a hint of a whine in his tone.

"What do you mean stranded in the rain?" Mikasa asked him.

"I missed the bus home." Eren muttered.

"Why didn't you call me then?" Mikasa questioned while feeling his forehead. Her sister mode kicked in instantly and now she was feeling for a fever.

"My phone died. I'm fine though, really I am." Eren assured as he pushed her hand away.

"I'm sorry, Eren. Had I known, I would have picked you up." Mikasa apologized with a serious guilt twisting in her stomach.

"It's really alright. Besides, I wouldn't have found that stray if I had taken the bus on time." Eren opted for the better option with enthusiasm. He lied about the stray, but he was happy that he had found Armin.

"Wait..." Mikasa muttered. "Didn't you say that you were on the phone earlier?" She asked. Eren could have sworn he saw a smirk lingering in her jaw somewhere.

"... Charging..." Eren uttered as he pointed back to his room. Pointing to his room got Mikasa to look at his hand.

"Did the stray bite you?" Mikasa asked. Eren's heart stuttered in a cold chill when he heard that.

_'Shit,'_ He thought_. 'I forgot about the bite on my ne-'_

Mikasa picked up his hand within hers, carefully running her fingers over the scratches to the back of his hand. Eren could feel the relief wash over his body, but he wondered why she wasn't asking about the bite on his neck.

Surely someone of her prestige would have seen the bite mark, or at least the blood trailing from it. It must have been that his shirt miraculously covered the bite, which would explain her lack of questions. She must not have been able to see it.

"Oh, y-yeah, it's a big dog and uh... He's very playful. He jumped on me while I wasn't looking and accidentally scratched my hand." Eren said with a nervous laugh following close behind. He raised a hand up to his shoulder to rub, like he was rubbing his muscles, but in reality he was checking on the bite mark.

Sure enough, his shirt collar was just barely covering the wound. It couldn't have been any more than a centimeter away from revealing his injury. He quietly pushed his shirt up more, acting like he was rubbing his muscles to thwart off her suspicions. He only hoped that it didn't start bleeding and reveal his petty lie.

"It doesn't look too bad. You should clean it off though, or else it'll get infected." Mikasa said.

"I know, _mother._ I'll do that right now." Eren rubbed his injured hand over her head and walked over to the kitchen sink. He set the water on a low pressure and made sure it wasn't scalding hot or freezing cold before dipping his hand under it.

_'I'm pretty sure Armin did a good job of cleaning it himself...'_ Eren inwardly thought, a grin spreading over his lips.

"Is something funny?" Mikasa asked. Unannounced to Eren, Mikasa had slipped behind him and her face was mere inches from his. The situation got him to jump in place.

"Don't do that!" He hollered. "What are you doing getting so close to me like that?" He asked while flicking water in her face.

"I meant to ask when I saw you. Your face is all red and you're sweating. Are you sick?" She asked. Eren felt himself flush at the observation. He hadn't realized that his body revealed more of himself than he thought.

"N-No! It had been a long walk and I hated being in the rain!" Eren once again improvised.

"Are you sure? You look a little pale right now. Maybe you should sit down." Mikasa suggested and tugged on his arm.

"_I'm fine,_ Mikasa. I promise." Eren assured. Mikasa couldn't help giving in to those big, green eyes of his. Who could?

"... Alright," She sounded skeptical, but if she was letting it go then he could manage with that as a lead rope. "Eren, I want you finding the dog's owner. I don't want it clawing at your skin anymore." Mikasa made a mental note to also keep Eren's bedroom door closed at all times. She didn't want the dog getting out and messing up their clean apartment.

"Okay, I will." Eren made sure to whine so it sounded like he was utterly defeated by her. "But what if the owner is an animal abuser, what then?" Eren asked.

"We'll take the dog to the pound." Mikasa said.

"Not the pou-" He stopped when Mikasa sent a stern glare at him. He swallowed, a chill going down his spine. He quickly got a paper towel to dry off his hands and scurried to the hall. Just before heading into his room, Eren looked down the room to see his sister taking off her jacket and setting it on the edge of the couch. Beneath her jacket lay the multiple belts of her uniform, all of them necessary when hunting vampires. She had a look on her face that suggested that she were about to kill someone right now. Eren knew never to mess with her when she looked like that, but he hadn't noticed his mistake of speaking before it was too late.

"You know, you've got dead fish eyes like our boss." He mentioned. He momentarily forgot that she was right there and in hearing distance. Her eyes instantly fell on him, and he knew that now would be a good time to run. Eren bolted for his room, shut the door, and locked it just as he heard Mikasa bang her fist on the other side of it.

"You're lucky I love you, or you'd be dead by now!" She called out.

"Why can't he ever say that to me?" Eren asked, loud enough so his sister could hear him. "It's always, _"fuck up and I'll kill you, Jaeger."_ No sentimental value in his tone." There was another bang against his door, and then it all went quiet.

Eren lifted his eyes to find Armin standing by his bed. His hands were pulled up to his chest, as if defending himself in some manner while the obvious look of worry was on his face. Eren lifted a finger to his lips and motioned for Armin to stay quiet. Armin nodded, showing that he got the message. Eren then motioned downward with his hand (the other was covering the keyhole) while mouthing the words, "get down." Armin listened and dropped down behind his bed.

Eren released a sigh as he stepped away from his door. He plopped down onto his bed and reached for a notebook resting on his nightstand. Attached to the cover was a pen, which he promptly pulled off and opened the notebook. He flipped it open to a blank page and started scribbling down on the back of it. Once that was done, he tilted the notebook to the side while he wrote on the next page. Armin's eyes followed the words on the page he wrote.

_"She doesn't trust me yet. She still thinks I'm hiding something. She's standing at the door and listening, probably even looking through the keyhole."_ It read. Armin nodded his head. Eren flipped the page, a small smile curving on his lips. Armin read the next words.

_"Technically I am, but she doesn't need to know that. She can't worry about what she doesn't know."_ Now Armin smiled. He waited with patience as Eren wrote again. He stopped momentarily to look at the words, look back at the previous page, and then back to the words. He knew how smart his sister was and turning the pages after he wrote something small would surely spark suspicion. He tilted his note book again after a few minutes.

_"You heard our conversation, right?"_ It asked. Armin looked up to him, and even though Eren wasn't looking at him, Armin nodded his head. Eren smiled to himself and dropped a hand over the side of the bed to pet Armin's head, as if he were the stray dog he talked about. Eren's warm hand against his head was a wonderful touch and Armin didn't mind in the least as he relished in the moment.

After moments of Armin having his head rubbed and of the quiet, Armin noticed the dull silence was not only in his room, but out also outside it. He could hear his sister's bones pop and grind as she got up and then her footsteps as she walked away from the door. He lifted his head a little more, prompting Eren to stop.

"She's gone," Armin mumbled.

"How do you know?" Eren asked.

"I heard her walk away." Armin said.

"She could just be faking it." Eren explained as he sat up a little. Armin joined him on the side of his bed, sitting just along the edge with Eren leaning on his side.

"She didn't. There's a difference in the sounds." Armin mumbled while playing with the tasseled strings of his borrowed shirt, but then pulled on the ends of the shirt, flushing at his exposed body. Eren smiled and sat up so he could brush his warm fingers against Armin's red cheek. He could feel the boy jump in surprise out from under him. "Y-You'll make me blush," He mumbled.

Eren chuckled and continued to run his fingers on the young vampire's soft skin.

"Armin, you aren't a pure blood. The blood you have won't last you forever." He said, his voice soft and velvety to Armin's well-tuned hearing. "While it's an odd concept, and you'd probably enjoy living without the embarrassing human functions, you won't be able to bleed and you won't be able to blush, so try enjoying the last of your human qualities while they still exist." He said.

Armin couldn't help but fall to those words. If he was blushing, then he'd allow it. He'd blush for as long as he could, because Eren was right. His body would dispense the remaining blood he had left and all of the things that made him human would be gone. While he never particularly liked blushing or bleeding in the past, these moments would be the last he could ever do it. With that being said, it wasn't like he'd purposely harm himself and enjoy the self-harm. He'd save that for when he got injured by other means.

"Besides, I like it when your cheeks are pink like that." Eren said. Armin swore that he could feel the heat in his cheeks get worse. Eren let out a heart-filled laugh and pulled Armin close to his body. Armin snuggled his head into the crook of Eren's neck, enjoying the warmth he felt from his skin.

He could smell the hint of blood from the teeth marks on his neck, but he was okay. While it drove him mad with desire, he was able to hold himself back. He wasn't hungry; that's all that mattered to him.

"Eren," Armin mumbled.

"Hm...?"

"I have a question for you." He continued to mumble, his lips pressing against Eren's neck. He didn't intend to bite down, however.

"I might have an answer for you." Eren pulled back so he could look into Armin's eyes.

"I don't understand vampires. I only know what I've seen in movies and read in books, but I don't know what's real and what is fiction... Will you help me learn?" Armin asked. His big, blue eyes were wide and pleading and Eren could feel a twinge of pleasure in a place he was sure he exhausted an hour or so before.

He couldn't help stealing a kiss. He connected their lips and Armin's mouth opened on a nearly silent gasp. He didn't hesitate slipping his tongue into the new territory, but that didn't stop Armin from participating. His hands, however, were lax in his lap, holding onto the ends of his shirt while Eren's hands were comfortably on his cheeks. Eren's grip was firm, but not tight and incredibly gentle. It was feather light and comforting all at once.

Eren pulled back, his eyes opening to see Armin's eyes half lidded and rather glazed.

"I think I've been doing that this whole time." Eren quietly said. It took a moment for his thoughts to catch up to him, but when they did, Armin smiled, his eyes fluttering shut as he lowered his head back down on Eren's shoulder.

"Eren, I have another question." Armin murmured.

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"I thought vampires didn't sleep, but I'm really tired..." He trailed off as his hands grabbed at Eren's shirt and held on with a loose grip.

"It's a bunch of crock about the no sleep thing. Vampires do sleep. Not all of your organs, such as your heart or lungs work, but your brain, bladder, kidneys, all of those work. You have to sleep some time to let those things rest." Eren explained.

"Even our brains work?" Armin barely opened his eyes to look up at Eren.

"Of course. If they didn't, well then you'd be a zombie." Eren smiled down at his friend as he spoke. Armin laughed quietly.

"Zombies aren't real, are they?" He asked. It was intended as a joke, but he was so tired that it sounded more like a serious statement.

"Of course not. Well, at least I don't think so." He didn't mind throwing a small joke back, and he was glad he did when Armin smiled at him. "I didn't believe in vampires for years either, but they are real. I guess I can't be too sure."

"That's good to hear..." Armin closed his eyes, letting his tired senses fade out. "Would it be okay then if I could sleep then?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course. You're safe; Mikasa won't come in here." Eren assured.

"Okay... I'll just sleep for a few minutes then... A little nap..." Armin cuddled as close as he could to Eren, stealing as much body heat as he could.

"Go ahead then, and I'll keep watch." Eren whispered with a small chuckle. Armin sighed against him, and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Eren applauded his sleeping habits; he wished he could fall asleep as fast as Armin did. Most of the time he ended up staying awake until five in the morning finishing school work before he could fall asleep. And then, of course, four hours later he'd be going to classes or work.

Eren yawned as he slowly leaned back against the headboard of his bed. He was sure that not even an earthquake would wake Armin up, but he didn't want to risk it. As he sighed and adjusted his position, his shirt brushed against the bite wound in his flesh. He winced in pain; why did it suddenly hurt now? He pulled his hand out from under Armin to feel around the wound.

He pulled his hand back to see the blood covering a good portion of his hand, slipping between his fingers and dripping down his wrist. How had Mikasa not seen the blood? Eren pulled his shirt up to cover the wound and closed his eyes. He was dizzy, but he figured there was nothing he could do about it now.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I keep forgetting this fanfic here and that I ever uploaded it... Whoops. XD I'm sorry. ._. Bad me. *Sulks in corner***

**-Misty**

**Song of the day: Good Night Kiss**

**By: 전효성 (Jun Hyo Sung)**

* * *

**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

* * *

**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) ****  
**

* * *

**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 4:**

**I'm Not Blind**

* * *

Armin slowly opened his dreary eyes, only to close them again when sunlight shined in his face. He whined and covered his face with his arm, but it was already too late. The sun had woken him up.

He whined in a pitiful manner once more and rolled onto his other side, hoping to get rid of the light, but another light caught his eyes. It wasn't the literal light seeping in through the curtains, it was the light of, what he considered was, his hope.

Eren.

Memories of the day before flooded his mind and his cheeks heated up in embarrassment. Eren, the blood, and the sex; all of it was as clear as his hearing, or, what he just realized, his eye sight. He sat up slightly to hold his weight on his elbow, noticing he couldn't get up any farther. The sharp pain in his lower back and the sore muscles in his legs stopped him from moving too much, so he didn't worry too much about waking up his new friend. However, he was sure a train flying over the roof of his apartment wouldn't wake him up.

Eren looked so peaceful in his sleep. Armin could tell how heavy it was, because not even brushing his cold hand against Eren's cheek would make him flinch. He was out cold, which was good, but Armin noted the heat radiating from his skin. Eren was naturally warm, but the heat being emitted from his skin was more than usual. He pressed his hand against Eren's forehead again, then his cheek, and then his neck. Eren was burning up, but not from arousal or the preheated room.

Eren had a fever.

Armin frowned as he gently touched Eren's shoulder and shook it. Eren didn't stir, and if it wasn't for Armin being able to hear his heartbeat, he would have thought that Eren was dead.

"Eren," He whispered quietly, though there was no response. He shook a little harder, prompting a response. If his heart still beat he was sure it would be pounding in his rib cage. "Please wake up, Eren..." He didn't want to raise his voice, afraid that his sister would hear him. "Eren..." He tried again.

His small and quiet begging seemed to do the trick. Eren's eyes fluttered open, and then closed when the sun did the same thing to him as it had done to Armin. Armin tried pushing himself up more, hoping to block out the sun for him. He waited, calling his name once more to keep Eren awake. When Eren opened his eyes, they stayed open, but it took a lot of energy and will power for them not to close again. His poor, swollen eyes were heavy and felt scratchy, like there was no moister in them despite the clear liquid slipping between the corners of his eyes.

He tried breathing through his nose, but as soon as he tried, the sinus congestion clogged his nose, made his throat tickle, and forced a painful, rib cracking cough out of him. He doubled over himself in pain, coughing into his hands and lap with tears seeping into his eyes. Armin sat up, ignoring the pain to rub Eren's back in hopes of soothing him. It didn't work. The cough stopped on its own time, but only after a minute, and if left Eren gasping for air like he had choked on something.

"Are you okay?" Armin asked and immediately regretted it. Of course Eren wasn't okay. How could he be? "H-How do you feel?" He asked, hoping to draw the attention away from his stupid question.

"I feel like shit..." Eren panted while clutching at his sweat-soaked shirt.

"I'm sorry," Armin apologized.

"What are you apologizing for? You didn't do this." Eren chuckled, but it was stopped short with another terrible cough. Armin left the comfort of his bed in favor of closing the curtains so the sun wasn't shining on them. "Thank you," Eren said once the curtain was shut.

"Can I ask you something, Eren?" Armin asked, slowly making his way to the bed.

"Yeah, of course," Eren mumbled.

"Aren't vampires supposed to burst into flames by the sun?" Armin asked, desperate to change the subject. It had just occurred to him that he had been in the view of sunlight since he woke up, probably a little bit before too.

"Another lie. Vampire skin isn't heated by blood, so it's naturally cold. The cold skin is a lot more sensitive then-" Eren stopped for a moment as he pushed the covers off of his legs. He wanted to stand, but his whole body shivered with cold in the warm room and he went right back to hiding under the blanket. "T-Then warm skin. You're more likely prone to sun burns then bursting into flames... Unless you sit outside for days on end." He tried to joke, but trying to laugh hurt his throat too much.

"I see..." Armin mumbled. He watched Eren struggle for a moment, trying to keep warm while leaving his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed in favor of helping him, but as soon as he touched Eren's arm, Eren flinched away from the cold skin he had just been talking about. "Sorry..." Armin mumbled with guilt.

"Don't be. It's okay." Eren assured. He grabbed at Armin's shoulders and pulled himself up, Armin helping him stand, but only touching parts of him that were clothed. He didn't want to make Eren any sicker than he already was.

"Maybe you should lie down for a little longer." Armin suggested. Eren shook his head, a motion that caused a brief moment of dizziness to overcome him. It washed away within a couple of seconds, but it was enough to render himself nauseous.

"No, I'm okay. Besides, I need to see if Mikasa is home." Eren mumbled as he tried staggering to his bedroom door.

"Why...?" Armin asked.

"Well if she's not home, you can come out. You don't want to stay in here forever, do you?" Eren asked, a small chuckle leaving him as he looked back at Armin.

Armin almost had to think of an answer. He hadn't really thought everything through when he came home with Eren, and he hadn't thought about what he would do while being there. The answer itself took a few seconds to make itself known to him, and even when he had it, it took a couple of moments to get it out.

"... Not really, no." Armin answered. Eren smiled and motioned with his finger to his lips to be quiet. Armin nodded his head and moved out of the sight of the door, fearing his sister would walk by and see him. Eren slipped through his door and closed it without any issues, noticing that Mikasa wasn't anywhere near there. Her bedroom door down the hall was open, signaling that she wasn't in her room.

It somehow became a habit of hers to leave her door open when she wasn't in her room, and that was a relief to Eren. Knowing that he was out of the eyes of both Armin and his sister, he gave out a silent sigh, something he was sure Armin still heard. He didn't feel burdened by either of them, so at the same time, he didn't want to be a burden to them either. He was as sick as the imaginary dog he had made up to throw Mikasa off of his scent, and if she found out, she would instantly become his mother again. She'd force him into bed and stay home from work so she could take care of him, something he couldn't afford with Armin being there at this point.

He couldn't risk the two running into each other. That meant he'd have to play hero for both of them and seem immortal. What a vexatious task it was. Eren gave another silent sigh as he left his closed door to walk down the hall. He had to walk with the wall against him, the nauseous feeling and dizziness overcoming his senses. He had been hung over once before, and it was a little like how he felt now, but added with the severe migraine, the stuffy nose, the raw throat, his swollen eyes, and his achy muscles, he would rather take a hang over any day.

He pushed himself into his spacious living room and looked around. He could see Mikasa in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal while leaning against the counter. A cup of water was next to her, and Eren would give anything if he could have a sip of that. She was dressed in her hunting gear: the set of belts fastened from head to toe on her body, the gun holders against each side of her rib cage, the long, zip-up boots that went to her knees with tassels hanging off of the sides, and to top it off, the leather jacket on her shoulders with the Scouting Legion symbol on the back. Another day at her job, another day of taking lives of anyone the Military Police deemed a vampire. How pathetic...

"Morning, Mikasa." He greeted quietly. Mikasa looked up from her cereal to wave at him, but upon seeing her brother, her eyes went wide while she swallowed her food.

"Eren, what's wrong?" She asked as she put her bowl down on the counter. Eren grumbled to himself; she was trained to hunt vampires, meaning she saw the smallest of details, but did she really have to notice him being sick before he could even blink? "You look so pale," She pointed out.

"Y-Yeah," Eren rubbed the back of his neck. Mikasa left the counter and placed a hand on Eren's forehead.

"You're burning up," She said while feeling his cheek. Eren pulled away before she could touch his neck.

"N-No. It's just hot in my room, that's all." Eren mumbled.

"I'm not blind, Eren. You're sick, probably from walking home in the rain and brining a stray dog with you." Mikasa said while examining the scratches on his hand. Simple scratches; not infected and not bleeding. It wasn't an infection; she could easily rule that out.

"It's allergies..." Eren mumbled again. Mikasa groaned, slightly irritated as she left his side to go to the cabinet that held their medicine kit.

"I knew something like this would happen." She muttered to herself. "And to top it off, you're probably exhausted from work and hungry. I never saw you eat dinner last night." She said.

"I fell asleep early..." Eren couldn't stop mumbling even if he wanted to, but he felt like he couldn't get his voice any higher. Fatigue from standing up had made him tired, and his already achy muscles wanted to give out on him. He could barely keep his eyes open enough as it was, feeling the need to close them and sleep a little more. He was standing up, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"I'm going to give you some medicine and I want you to-" Mikasa couldn't even finish her sentence, because there was a loud thud behind her. She turned swiftly to find Eren on the floor, staggering to get back up to his feet while rubbing his head from the impact of the hard, tile floor against it. "Eren...!" She cried out as she knelt down beside him.

Armin heard the cry from where he sat on Eren's bed. Even through the thick cement walls decorated with paint and portraits, he still heard it. It was definitely Mikasa's voice, and judging by the panic in her tone and by the way she said Eren's name, something wasn't right. Something was wrong with Eren, he just knew it. Armin jumped to his feet and left the room, but barely caught himself in time from leaving the darkened hallway.

He couldn't go out to check on Eren, for he would run the risk of Mikasa seeing him and, more than likely, killing him. What good could he possibly do for Eren if he was dead? Well... Dead_er_. He could only stand in the shadows and listen in pathetic exile.

"That's it; I'm taking you to the hospital." Mikasa said. Armin listened deftly to the sounds of her picking Eren up off of the floor.

"N-No, Mikasa, I'm alright. I don't need to go to the hospital." Eren tried swatting her away, but with little strength to fight back, he was at a loss.

"Bullshit. We're going." God, did she sound scary, especially when she was worried for Eren and his wellbeing.

"Please, Mikasa. What about work?" Eren asked as she lifted an arm of his over her shoulder and helped him onto his feet.

"The Scouting Legion can wait a few days." Mikasa said while grabbing her wallet and phone and simultaneously holding Eren up.

"A few days? Mikasa, I said I'm fine!" Eren argued, but a violent cough quickly caught in his throat. He doubled over in pain, his ribs feeling like they were about to break as he coughed up a possible lung into his hand.

"Yeah, you are as healthy as a horse." Mikasa said, sarcasm just barely evident in her voice. She yanked him to the front door to grab her car keys. While she did that, Eren looked away from her and to the hall, seeing Armin standing by in the shadows. His concerned gaze and the tears barely present in his big, blue, and troubled eyes had Eren's gut twisting, not in nausea, but in pain and guilt.

He didn't mean to make him worry. This was exactly what he didn't want, and somehow he only made the result a reality and made Mikasa's deciding factor obvious. He didn't mean to. He didn't want to. He didn't want him to worry.

He offered the best smile he could in Armin's direction, mouthing the words, _"Don't worry, I'm okay,"_ in his direction as Mikasa pulled him out of their apartment and shut the door behind them. He grimaced, his shoulder giving a painful jab as he looked away. He didn't mention the pain, knowing it'd only worry Mikasa more, and he didn't bother to try and say anything else as she got him to the car. She sat him in the front so he could have the cold air softly blowing in his direction in hopes of calming his terrible nausea. She put the seat belts on him as if he were a child who couldn't do it on their own. She even went so far as to get a blanket out of the trunk and drape it over him, earning her a slurred glare and sarcastic comment.

"Thanks, mom, now I'm ready for scho-" He couldn't continue. Another cough racked at his lungs, rendering him breathless.

"Just rest, Eren," Mikasa said as she got into the driver's seat. Putting her seat belt on, she turned the car on, put it in gear, and drove. Eren leaned his head against the glass window, looking outside in the dim, morning light. It was still raining, much lighter than yesterday, but still raining all the same.

The cold glass was nice against his burning forehead, but it also was the single coldest thing he had ever felt in his entire life. Doing this made his body shiver, and to help with that, Eren pulled his legs up onto his seat and cradled them against his chest. Mikasa let a hand drift away from the wheel to find her brothers hand. She held onto it carefully, her thumb rubbing against his skin in a calming manner.

"Hey, both hands on the wheel..." Eren murmured. "Especially when it's raining... You said that to me." He recalled, but vaguely remembered it with his poor thinking skills at the moment.

"Don't patronize me, Eren." Mikasa mumbled. That was all she said, and all Eren could muster up the strength to say as she drove through the rain.

While they didn't live far from the hospital, it wasn't like it was within walking distance, about two and a half miles from their place to the hospital if Eren remembered correctly, but that was if he could. At this point he wasn't even sure if he remembered his last name.

"Okay, come on, Eren." Mikasa mumbled, unfastening his seatbelt while the blanket was still over him. Eren opened his eyes to see Mikasa hovering over him, pulling on his arms and trying to get him to stand. He must have fallen asleep at some point, because he didn't even remember her stop driving or get out of the car. "It's cold so keep that blanket on you." Mikasa insisted.

Eren did as told as she lifted him up with his bad arm over her shoulder. Eren winced and was barely able to hide the hiss of pain. The only reason Mikasa didn't hear it was because she had shut the car door at the same time he groaned in pain.

"Ready...?" She asked. Eren tiredly nodded his head against her shoulder, but the words went in one ear and out the other. What was it she asked?

"Don't get offended if I throw up on you..." He grumbled, his stomach unhappy with the car ride.

"I won't, but try not to anyway." Mikasa offered a weak smile as she helped him into the hospital. The main lobby was quiet, only a few people sitting by and waiting to be checked in. Mikasa looked around at the people, taking note of some of them.

One was a little girl with an open wound in her head. Her mother was cradling her head against her chest, a cloth covering the wound to stop the bleeding. The little girl was pale, but she looked more dazed about the situation then worried or in pain.

Another was an older man with an insane smokers cough. It didn't help him being older, but his (what Mikasa assumed was) wife was by him, patting his back gently and repeatedly telling him to drink his water and breathe.

Besides these few people, it was just her and Eren. She gave a silent nod, deeming him more important than them, even more than the little girl who was bleeding. She was already waiting, so that meant a doctor would be helping her soon. Eren was important, more important than her.

"What's wrong, Mikasa?" Eren asked in his scratchy voice. Mikasa shook her head and pulled Eren to the front desk where a young man was sitting, typing away on his computer.

"Excuse me," She called out quietly to him. The man looked up at her, stopping his typing to assess what was in front of him. Mikasa didn't miss the grimace he momentarily gave at the sight of Eren.

"Can I help you?" He asked. Mikasa frowned at his rude tone.

"Yes, my brother is sick and I need a doctor for him." She said.

"Please have a seat with the others. Someone will be out to see him soon." The man said and went back to typing. Eren could feel Mikasa's grip on him tighten in anger.

"I don't want soon. I want someone out here now." She demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I have other people who need help as well." The man didn't look up from his computer as he spoke, simultaneously typing away while pissing Mikasa off. The girl huffed and reached into her pocket with her free hand. She pulled out a small, leather hand book, barely even an inch in width, and set it down on the desk. She opened it, revealing her ID, but not just a license; it was her Scouting Legion identification card.

It had her picture on it, along with a status of her jobs, acquired status and rankings, as well as a number indicating the vampires she had taken down, both on her own and with the aid of someone else. It was old, but the numbers were substantial and would worry anyone. She pushed the little book in front of him, grabbing his attention with it. He looked up momentarily, preparing to blow her off, but he saw what she was holding. He looked at it, and the first thing he saw was her name. He gulped with fear.

"So help me, boy, I will get you fired and arrested for interfering with the well-being of a Scouting Legion." She threatened, her voice low and quiet so no one else in the room would hear.

"... Y-Yes, Miss Ackerman... I'll find a doctor right now." The poor man got up from his chair and disappeared behind a door.

"That was harsh, Mikasa..." Eren mumbled, still clinging to consciousness.

"I don't care." Mikasa muttered. Eren let a small, weak, and pathetic smile slip over his pale lips as she pulled him to one of the couches in the waiting room. She set him down carefully and adjusted the blanket on his shoulders. "How are you feeling...?" She asked.

"Tired..." Eren mumbled.

"Just hang in there. Someone will be out shortly for you." She said. Eren smiled again, but a shiver made him stop. Mikasa rubbed at his arms, hoping to create some friction and heat, but it didn't help.

"Stop that... I said I'm okay..." Eren slowly sank forward until his head fell against her shoulder.

"I just wish there was something I could do..." Mikasa said with a small sigh and apprehension in her voice. Eren let a hand fall from the warmth of the blanket to rest on her leg. He gave it a gentle pat, all he could do in his condition. "I'm supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around." Mikasa rebuked.

"If you'd relax a little, then I wouldn't need to do that." Eren pulled his hand back as he spoke, bringing it into the confines of his blanket and cradling it like his other hand.

"Miss Ackerman," Mikasa lifted her head to the sound of her name being called. She saw a nurse at the door the man disappeared behind, a young woman with a pair of black scrubs on. She was looking for the girl the man had told her about, and Mikasa could scarcely make out the figure of said man pointing out the door in her direction, his tail between his legs.

"Yes?" She inquired.

"I've been told that your friend is sick." The girl made her way to the two sitting on the couch, leaving the man to wallow in fear.

"My brother. He has a high fever and he fainted in the kitchen earlier." Mikasa explained.

"I did not faint, I fell over." Eren corrected, huffing with impatience.

"Oh my, well, let's get you out of here and into a room, shall we?" She offered. Mikasa nodded her head and helped Eren back onto his feet. The nurse led the two out of the main lobby and into a corridor filled with smaller and cut off rooms. These were more like waiting rooms for one person (or two if one had someone with them). They were taken to the one closest to the nurses' station.

"Alright, please sit down on the bed." The nurse said and motioned to the bed with the protective white covering on it. Mikasa helped her brother onto the bed and stepped away to let the nurse start her business. "Have you been nauseous at all?" The nurse asked as she put on a pair of gloves.

"Yeah..." Eren mumbled.

"Have you hit your head at all recently?" She asked.

"No."

"He walked home in the rain yesterday. He also brought a stray dog home." Mikasa spoke up, earning her a hard glare from Eren.

"Well it could be a good case of a bad cold and allergies." The nurse said as she grabbed an otoscope to look into Eren's ears. Going through Eren's left ear, she noticed the inflammation and tender skin within it. "Looks like you've got a nasty ear infection too."

"Wee..." Eren groaned. The nurse looked a little more, and as she pulled the otoscope away, she saw the irritated skin along the shell of his ear and neck, and, but just barely, little, red lines running through the skin under his ear.

"Huh..." She uttered.

"Is something wrong?" Mikasa asked. Eren turned his head in her direction, noticing the odd, but worried look in his eyes.

"I don't know... It looks like you have sepsis, but I don't see any wounds." She said as she pressed delicately against his skin. The response was almost immediate: a hiss of protest and Eren jolting away from the pain. "I'm sorry," The nurse apologized as her hand pressed against the skin of his neck.

"I-It's alright. It just hurts." Eren muttered. Mikasa watched the nurse examine Eren, her gut twisting the more the nurse spoke.

What was wrong with him? Sepsis, as in the blood infection? Why was this happening, and to him? He didn't deserve this. Her brother didn't deserve this.

Those were the thoughts plaguing the poor girl as she stood by and watched with helplessness. All she could do was watch, but she would watch and make sure _nothing _was run over. She watched with hawk-like eyes as the women kept running her fingers over Eren's flesh, pressing down enough to earn sharp hisses from him. Eventually, she made it to his neck, where the sepsis seemed to reside. Mikasa could see the shock go through Eren's eyes, like something was wrong, and he tried to pull away, but it was too late.

The nurse had pulled the collar of his shirt back, exposing a terrible bite wound that was puffy, red, and oozing profuse amounts of infection from the openings in his skin, which grotesquely stuck to his shirt. She gasped and then froze, the sight frightening her, but it wasn't half as bad as the wave of guilt that went through Eren's mind and the sheer terror Mikasa was suddenly hit with. The utter shock was like a ton of bricks flying into her face all at once.

"Bite..." The word came out a whisper, her voice trembling with uncontrollable fear. What came next was nothing more than panic. "B-Bite! We've got a bite!" The nurse cried out as she darted out of the room.

Eren covered his shoulder with his hand, hiding the evidence from Mikasa, but it was already too late. He looked up and saw that look of fright in her eyes, and he knew he had been caught. Her skin had even taken on a paler complexion from what she already had. He looked away, the guilt unbearable.

"Mikasa... I-It's not what it looks like..." He mumbled. He looked back up, ready to explain and confess everything that happened the day before, but he didn't have the time. Several doctors barged into the room and pinned him down to the bed. He kicked and screamed with all of his might, but he wasn't strong enough. He wasn't healthy enough and being up against three of four doctors wasn't helping.

His arms were pinned to the bed, held down as needles were brought out. Eren could scarcely make out some of the words they were saying; things about blood transfusions and bites and infections. He couldn't keep up with their chatter. He wanted to tell them. He wanted to tell them that he wasn't bitten by a pure blood, and that he wasn't infected and wasn't going to turn, that the wound was just infected from dirt and nothing else, but he couldn't get the words out. He was afraid, afraid for Mikasa hearing.

He turned his head away from the blinding lights they were shining down on him and to Mikasa. She was still standing by, frozen in place with her hands balled into fists by his sides. Her facial expression was nothing more than pure fear; maybe there was some shock and guilt, but it was definitely fear. Here she was, the world's greatest vampire hunter, and her brother was bitten by the one thing she killed right from under her nose. Not only that, he had lied about it, and he had lied about it to her, but why? They trusted each other; they loved each other, so why hadn't he told her something like this?

"_Who were you talking to, Eren?"_

_"Don't go in there! Because it's dirty! Really, really dirty!"_

_"Did you bring home another stray animal?"_

_"... You could say that..."_

The words were ringing in her head. Why hadn't she realized it sooner? Why hadn't she seen the signs? Why didn't she step up and find out on her own? Had she done that, maybe she could have prevented this.

No, she _would_ prevent this. She was dead set on it. No one, _human nor vampire,_ would harm Eren ever again. She would be damn sure of it.

With this set in her mind, Mikasa felt along her body, noticing she was still wearing her hunting belts.

_'Good...'_ She distantly thought. _'I'm going to need them.'_

Eren kept staring at her, simultaneously putting up a fight with the doctors as bore needles were stuck into his arm and crying out for his sister's help, but when he saw her leave, all of the strength left in his body was put into fighting them.

"Stop her!" He begged and sat up, but he was pushed back down into the bed again by the doctors.

"You need to lay down, sir!" The doctor said over his cries.

"Stop her, please! She'll kill him! She'll kill Armin!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am currently hiding from reviewers from another fanfic... *hides under a bucket***

**Song of the day: Sacrifice**

**By: Evanescence**

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**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

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**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) ****  
**

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**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 5:**

**It's all Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt**

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Mikasa wasted no time in getting into her apartment. She nearly kicked in Eren's own bedroom door, but had enough time to stop herself. She quickly opened the door, letting it fly open and hit the wall and cabinet behind it.

Armin startled from his spot on the bed. He looked at Mikasa, his breath turned cold on the spot the moment her intense glare from those black eyes, and the hate emanating off of her could be felt from where he was sitting, and it had goose bumps rising on his cold skin and his hands trembling against his lap. He sat up off of the bed, fear striking him as she pulled out a knife from her belt.

"You little…!" She lunged forward into the room. With a screech Armin moved out of the way, narrowly avoiding her blade. Mikasa, however, was well trained, and perfectly prepared for this. When he thought he was in a safe distance from her, Mikasa flipped the blade in her hand and threw it back. It just barely got the skin of his forearm, making him cry out and fall to the floor in pain.

Armin fumbled on the ground, alternating between keeping pressure on his new wound and getting away from Eren's enraged sister. The vampire hunter considered it child's play though. Armin was barely crawling on his knees before Mikasa grabbed at his ankles and pulled him back. Armin reached for something to grab onto, anything, but nothing came in arms reach to save him.

"You're going to regret ever touching my brother." Mikasa grabbed Armin by the collar of the shirt he was wearing and pulled him to his feet. Before Armin could even gain balance, she tossed him against the wall. Armin's head smacked against the thick and painted cement with a good thud, knocking the air out of him and creating a dent into the perfect, white wall.

"I-I'm sorry!" He cried out. Mikasa pressed him firmly against the wall and held the knife up to his throat.

"Sorry? You're apologizing now? It's a little _too late_ for that!" She pressed harder against his neck, slicing the pale skin near his jugular. He screeched with the pain and outright terror he was now facing, thrashing his lower body in hopes that she would release him, but Mikasa showed no clemency. Her black eyes watched as purplish blood slipped from the open wound on his neck and down to stain the shirt Eren had lent him. It was only upon seeing the blood it that she stopped.

She lifted the blade up slightly, taking a moment to look at the open wound and blood. Armin wiggled against her for freedom, or at least for Mikasa to drop the blade, but that didn't happen. His eyes were wide open, filled with obvious fear, but he didn't dare look her in the eye. He didn't know what stopped her so suddenly, but he wasn't about to set her off again. Meanwhile, her eyes seemed trained on his blood.

"That's not right..." She murmured. Armin stopped wiggling to look at her with his frightened, blue eyes. She looked up to him, making Armin's eyes shift to the wall behind her while she looked to the blood and then back to him.

_'He still has blood in his body...' _She thought. She looked to his arm where she had cut him, and upon inspection she could see the blood oozing from that wound as well. She ground her teeth together as she pushed the blade against his neck again, but it didn't do anything to break more skin or muscle.

"How old are you?" Mikasa asked with the knife mere centimeters from cutting an artery.

"N-Nineteen!" Armin gasped, his hands scraping against her arms in hopes of getting the knife away from his throat.

"No, let me ask again. How _old_ are you?" She repeated. Armin swallowed a thick lump of fear down his throat. He understood what she meant, but answering her meant he had to speak, which meant his jaw would move, causing his throat to move, and would ultimately push the blade into his skin. He knew if he didn't answer, she'd probably kill him anyway.

"I-I'm two weeks old," He said despite the knife. Mikasa's grip on the blade lessened, but just barely as she pulled it back from his neck. Her intense gaze was still there, her eyes boring holes in Armin's head, but she let go of his hair. Armin covered his throat, stopping the profuse bleeding while panting for breath. The struggle between them had left him breathless, and a little thirsty, but he didn't dare say that out loud. He still wasn't strong enough and Mikasa as sure as hell didn't and wouldn't hold back.

"Shit..." She cursed. "You're still young." She murmured. She released him completely by stepping back and letting him free from the wall. Armin fell to the ground while keep pressure to his throat, fearing Eren's sister with his life.

She was one vampire hunter not to be messed with.

"Why did you drink from my brother?" She asked. Armin wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but he wasn't going to openly doubt her while the blade dripping with his oxygen-deficient blood was still within her tight grasp.

"He let me..." Mikasa threatened him with the knife by raising it in the air. "H-He did, honest!" Armin covered his head with his arms in fear as he cried. He waited for the impact of the cold blade on his skin again, but it never came. He peeked past his tightly closed eyes to see her still standing by, blade in her hand, ready to kill him if he answered wrong.

"My brother would never do that." She hissed. "What did you say to make him offer his blood?"

"I didn't say anything!" Armin exclaimed. "I even told him I didn't want him, but he argued about it!"

"I find that hard to believe." Eren's sister said.

"It's the truth!" Armin protested. Mikasa went quiet, her stare lingering on him. She looked away and left her place to go by the hutch sitting by Eren's door, the one she nearly crumbling into pieces when she opened said door. She opened up one of the glass cupboards and pulled out a picture frame of her and Eren when they were younger. She stalked back over to Armin, grabbed him by the top of his hair, and yanked him to his feet again. Armin cried in pain as he tried to free himself, but Mikasa shoved the picture frame into his face, making him stop.

"You see this?" She asked. "This is Eren and I at fourteen. Eren had killed his first vampire all on his own." Mikasa pointed out the decapitated vampire in the background of the picture, and the sight made Armin squirm more for release while looking away. It was a horrifying picture. "Eren hunts vampires for a living just like me," She said.

Armin squirmed within her grasp, hating the sight of the picture. He knew Eren was a vampire hunter, but he stopped hunting new bloods like him. This picture was just a memento of his past hunting's.

What an odd memento it was; a simple photo of two simple kids with a decapitated vampire bleeding out in the background.

"You're too young to hypnotize him, and it's obvious you aren't a pure blood, but that doesn't mean you didn't convince him." Mikasa said. "So what did you say?" She interrogated.

"I promise you, I didn't say anything! He offered it to me even though I told him not to!" Mikasa gave a good yank on the top of his head, pulling his blond hair back and making him cringe in pain. "I-I didn't say anything! Ask him yourself!"

"Well I would if he wasn't getting a blood transfusion." Mikasa hissed. Armin whimpered; the news of Eren's state was new and painful to him. He didn't want Eren in this kind of situation, but now he was, and it was his entire fault.

"I-I didn't want to do it." He whimpered. "I swear to god that I didn't."

"God...? You honestly believe in that sort of thing after all of the shit you've been through?" Mikasa looked him straight in the eyes and asked. Armin whined and pulled at her hand, hoping for her to release her grip on his hair. All that did was piss her off, considering he tried with the hand drenched in his warm blood.

"Please," He whimpered.

"What are you begging for? You're dead, give it up." She huffed. Armin swallowed the painful lump in his throat and dared to look Mikasa in the eye.

"E-Eren said you weren't cold heart," He said. Mikasa opened her mouth, ready to curse at him and kill him for even daring to say her brother's name (she couldn't care less that he was stupid enough to look her in the eye), but he spoke up first. "I guessed that it meant it was personal for you, a-and that's why you're acting so harshly now."

Armin could see the twitch in Mikasa's eyes. He was traveling into dangerous territory and that instinct, the one that tells you when something is wrong and you shouldn't do it, didn't seem to be working at the moment.

_'I must have gotten the rational thought sucked out of me...' _He distantly thought.

"But believe me, why would I hurt the guy who saved my life?" Armin asked. Mikasa could see the little hint of tears along his waterline, and she cursed under her breath. Damn him. Damn him to hell. What was this kid doing? What was he saying?

"Eren saved my life, or at least what's left of it. He saved me. He gave me his own blood, so why... Why would I hurt him?"

"Beats me," Mikasa finally spoke up. "You're a vampire. Your life has been dwindled away to sucking the life out of others, like you did my brother. He can be so naive some-" Mikasa couldn't say much before Armin interrupted her.

"I stopped!" He blurted. "He told me he was dizzy and I stopped!" Mikasa didn't show it in her expression, but his sudden outburst had surprised her.

"Did you really?" She asked, however, she made it sound sarcastic, like she was totally disregarding his comment. Armin heard it and saw the small shift in her expression. It made him puff out his cheek in irritation.

"I want to see Eren." He said daringly. This got the response he expected, her deathly glare and for her to pull on the blond hair in between her fingers.

"Like hell that'll happen." She hissed.

"I want to see him. He can tell you everything too." Armin said.

"Like I said, he's getting a blood transfusion. I can't even see him." She said. Armin was ready to argue some more, but he could see the anger in her features shift into a more sullen expression. She released his hair, giving him the break he wanted while she pressed her hand on the wall beside him. That rage that had been in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with sadness, a sadness that was pulled out from her heart.

Armin wondered without speaking how such a girl who seemed so frightening and dangerous could suddenly look so weak and defenseless. She didn't look the same, and oddly enough, it didn't look right on her.

"I can't even see my own brother..." She mumbled to herself. Armin felt his shoulders sink with more guilt that the world had to offer him. To top off the guilt of his friend getting his body filled with someone else's blood, his sister could no longer see him. She had been separated from him, unknowing of his situation and left in the darkness. She was indeed scared and frightened, and Armin knew that it was his fault.

"Um..." He mumbled. Mikasa looked up at him, trying to school her face into a stern look, but she only looked concerned. "Eren said... That his family took you in..." He was truly terrified to utter those words, but it didn't seem to change Mikasa much. If anything, she seemed more surprised than angry.

"He told you that?" She asked. Armin nodded his head.

"Yeah... All he said was they took you in, though. He didn't give out any details." Armin mumbled when seeing the glare from Mikasa intensify. Her eyes narrowed at him and he could practically feel his stomach twist in knots.

"It's none of your business." She huffed and pushed against his shoulder. Armin whined at the pressure and flinched when his injured arm was pressed into the wall, but he kept staring at her in the eyes.

He had a feeling that, with how frightening of a girl she way, Mikasa rarely had someone stand up to her. It seemed to be true, because the longer he stared, the more he saw her unravel and become unnerved. He knew that she was upset about Eren, and he didn't blame her, but he needed to get through to her. He needed to show her that he was no threat and that he wasn't going to hurt her or Eren ever again. He was too afraid to do that, and he didn't dare think of a world without his friend by his side.

"Why do you want to know?" Mikasa asked, her voice low and practically growling at him. Armin swallowed, feeling the blood still seeping from his injuries and dribbling down his body. Eren had said that he wasn't going to keep the blood in his body, and eventually it would all be gone. He could just feel the blood level dissipating as they spoke.

"I-I had a feeling about something... And I just wanted to know what happened." Armin stammered as he spoke. He heard the irritated groan from within Mikasa's throat and winced. He really was pushing his luck. He considered it God's second chance when Eren came and saved him, and he was really wasting it with what he was doing.

"Fine," Mikasa said bitterly. Armin's eyes widened slightly as she stepped back, placing her hands on her hips while letting Armin free. "Yeah, they did take me in. Eren saved me from three pure bloods that killed my parents. I would have turned if it weren't for Eren saving me." She finally revealed. Once she finally let her past out into the open, she clicked her tongue with irritation and walked out of the room.

Armin slowly slid down the wall, his hands still against his open wounds to stop the bleeding while his eyes stared at the carpeted floor that was slowly being painted with his blood. He finally knew the story; not in detail, but he knew all the same. He couldn't help but be surprised by it either; the resemblance of her past to his was almost frightening. She may have had to deal with three pure bloods, but both of their families had been murdered by vampires, and they were near deaths edge as well, that was until Eren had come and saved them just in time. He took them in, gave them a home, and loved them. They both were given their second chance, and it was all because of Eren.

Eren had saved them. They were given a chance to live, and while Armin hadn't been saved in time for his heart to beat once more, Eren had given him a new way to live. Mikasa and he were a lot alike in more ways than one. It was so clear and he saw that now, and what he saw even more clearly was the obvious protection they both felt for him.

Finally letting the information slip thoroughly through his mind, Armin lifted his gaze up to the room. He hadn't really noticed Mikasa leaving, but he noticed that she was gone now. He noticed he was alone, and even with his life hanging on the line around Eren's sister, he didn't want to be alone.

He pushed himself up onto his feet, feeling slightly dizzy from the sudden lack of blood. He knew it wouldn't kill him, but that didn't mean it wasn't nauseating. He quietly walked out of Eren's room, using the wall as a guide as he walked back into the living room. He saw Mikasa sitting on the living room couch, her face in her hands and her elbows against her knees. He could hear her taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Armin frowned; he had been right before when he thought that sad wasn't a good emotion on her.

"M-Mikasa," He said while walking into the room. It had been his first time saying her name, so it was more like he was testing out the name.

"What the hell do you want?" Mikasa asked without lifting her head. Armin hesitated before walking over to the couch and sitting on the last cushion of the couch, as far away as he could sit from her on the small space. His butt was barely against the plush cushion, hanging off of the edge in case he needed to make a run for it. "Don't get blood on my furniture." Mikasa commanded while staring at him from under her pale fingers.

"Sorry..." Armin mumbled and twiddled his fingers in his lap. An unbearably tense and nerve wrecking moment passed in silence, the two simply sitting on the couch and saying nothing. Armin knew what he wanted to say, but getting it out without getting himself killed was another matter entirely. He peeked a look over to Mikasa to see what she was doing when he saw her black eyes glaring daggers at him from under her black bangs. He jumped in place slightly and looked away.

"Uhm..." He uttered. "A-About you and Eren..."

"Don't say my brother's name..." Mikasa ordered before he could continue.

"S-Sorry..." Armin murmured. He shifted in place, turning his body slightly towards Mikasa while keeping his gaze at the floor. "I-It's just that... When E-... I mean your brother told me about you, I was terrified of you." He admitted sheepishly.

Mikasa dropped her hands to her knees as she glared at Armin from the corners of her eyes. He gaze was deafening, but Armin swallowed down the lump of something constricting his breathing and forced himself to continue.

"But he stood up for you... Eren said that you weren't cold hearted, and that you did what you do because you have to. He stood up for you and he told me that you had feelings..." Armin fumbled for more words. He wasn't entirely sure where he was getting at this himself, and he knew he was more than likely digging his own grave for Mikasa to toss his body in, but he hoped that she'd hear him out and listen to what he was saying. "I'm going to believe him... Even if you do kill me in the end, I trust you, because of what he said."

The look that went across Mikasa's face was unreadable. It looked like a mixture of utter shock and fear. Had he said something wrong? Had he offended her in some way? Was what he said wrong in some way? If he had done so, he needed to say something to make it right.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..." He mumbled. Mikasa clicked her tongue and looked away with an annoyed look.

"I love my brother..." Mikasa's voice was stern, but Armin could see all of the emotions behind her words: her undying devotion to Eren, her love for her brother that she spoke of, the protectiveness he wished someone had given to him, the childish innocence that was burned away with the hatred that hide it. It was all there. "I love him more than you ever could, so don't compare anything we have in common."

There was the hate.

"I understand..." Armin mumbled quietly.

"No, you really don't." Armin wouldn't argue with her and say he did. Eren had saved both of their lives; he changed them into something new. They were a lot more alike than she realized, but he wasn't going to say that and get himself killed.

"Okay..." Armin wouldn't disagree with her right now. He wanted to be alive to see Eren and see him okay.

"I know, though... That you love him too." Mikasa stated with a dull expression on her face and a flat tone. Armin blushed brightly to her words. He opened his mouth, preparing to protest, but she stopped him. "Don't tell me you don't. You're the most pathetic excuse for a vampire I've seen."

Armin shut his mouth.

"I know the carnal desire a vampire gets to someone after drinking their blood. It's easily something that can be mistaken for as love." Mikasa explained. "But it is mostly the desire for their blood that tricks them. While I'm saying this, I don't doubt you probably care for him in some way." She continued.

"I get it... I do..." Mikasa stood up from the couch and paced over to Armin. She pulled the small hand knife from her holster (still dripping with his blood) and dangled it near Armin's head. Armin's blue eyes followed it with an icy chill going up his back and he let out a frightened gasp. Mikasa let it dangle for a few more moments before pulling it away so his focus was on her.

"I love my brother. If you ever hurt him in any way, I will kill you. I won't hesitate. I won't hold back. I won't show mercy. I will kill you, even if Eren begs me not to." She said the words as if she had venom on her teeth.

"Because if you hurt him, then all I'll be doing is protecting him. I'll kill _you_ to keep _him_ safe. I promise you that." She pushed the knife back into the holster on her thigh and stepped back. Armin felt a whole wave of relief wash over him as she walked away from him and over to the kitchen counter. She picked up some dishes and stuck them in the sink to wash. She flipped the water on and poured a generous amount of soap into the sink as it filled.

"S-So you aren't going to kill me?" Armin asked from his place on the couch.

"Not yet," She curtly replied while washing a bowl from this morning of its previous grime.

While she did this, Armin began to think. While his legs shook and his boney knees knocked together from the previous adrenaline rush, he started to think about what it was that Mikasa said.

She was right. Would he accidentally kill Eren when drinking from him? What if he couldn't control his strength and crushed him? If Armin hurt the boy who saved his life, then what would happen? Would he be alone? Would he be executed? Would he spend his _last moments_ alone?

All of these "what if's" started raging in his head. Mikasa was right. Armin was unpredictable in his current state. He was unpredictable, unreliable, and dangerous all at once.

He didn't want to hurt Eren. He didn't want to kill him either. He wasn't sure if he knew that he was in love with Eren, but he knew for sure he cared for him greatly. He had only known love once, and it was different because they were family members. He had nothing to compare it to and no one to ask. He wouldn't be alive (for the most part) without him and he wasn't ready to be the reason for his removal from Earth.

"Mikasa..." He spoke up. The older girl turned from the sink and looked back at the boy on the couch. Armin was clenching his hands into his lap, as if his stomach was in pain, but it didn't seem that way. The look he gave her was full of determination, like he had come upon a great decision.

"What...?" She bitterly asked.

"If I hurt Eren in any way... Then I expect you to keep that promise." Armin spoke strongly, his voice trembling slightly, but still conveying his true feelings.

Mikasa had a glint of surprise in her normally lifeless, black eyes. She turned her body to him, her hands wet from water as she waited for something more from him.

"I don't want to hurt him, so if I do... You'll be the first person I go to. The first person and my last..."

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**A/N: *Meant to upload this two days ago and forgot. Whoops. Runs and hides***


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ahh~ All is right with the world now. :3**

**-Misty**

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**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

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**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) ****  
**

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**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 6:**

**Don't Blame Yourself**

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Mikasa put the car into park and yanked the keys from the ignition. She sat back in her seat, a soft sigh escaping her as she let her nerves relax from the quiet tension. A long, quiet moment passed before the rustling of fabric brought her back to her senses. Her eyes shifted to look at the smaller form in the seat next to her, eyeing the boy wearing her Scouting Legion cloak with the emblem of freedom on the back; the Wings of Freedom. He shifted in place once more and the hood on his head fell, revealing his short, blond hair and girlish features.

Armin was looking outside the window, his hands pressed against the cold glass and his forehead resting off to the side. He looked around skeptically, blue eyes darting from the entrance of the hospital to the people walking around it.

This was dangerous. What they were planning to do was dangerous, even more so for him. What if they got caught? Not only would he be murdered, but Mikasa might lose her job. Armin didn't want that, not at all.

"Alright, listen up." Mikasa spoke up. Armin looked to her, slightly spooked by her sudden raise in tone.

"Y-Yes...?" He stuttered.

"Even before we leave this car, you need to keep your head down. You need to keep it down while we're in there, you can't lift it, and you need to keep that hood over your face at all times. It doesn't come off, understood?" Mikasa commanded in a serious tone. Armin frantically nodded his head and repositioned the hood of the Scouting Legion cape to shadow his face and hide it. "If anyone talks to you, I'll answer for you. Don't say anything," She continued.

Armin nodded his head again instead of verbally answering. He wasn't going to tempt fate by disregarding Mikasa's orders. Not only was she letting him see Eren, but her rules would more than likely keep him alive. He couldn't see Eren if he was dead, and he needed to listen even if he didn't want to.

"And so help me, if you go crazy on me and try anything funny-"

"You can kill me." Armin assured her, staring straight into her black eyes. Mikasa sighed and nodded her head once before taking her seatbelt off.

"Alright, let's go." She said and stepped out of the car. Armin did the same and pulled his hood down once more before leaving the car. Mikasa was standing by his car door, waiting for him with her hands crossed over her chest, but secretly near the gun holsters by her ribs in case her weapons were needed. Armin did as told on the spot, keeping his head down and the hood as deep on his head as possible.

Mikasa lead him into the front entrance of the hospital, simultaneously keeping her eyes on him while keeping her eyes on everyone else. Besides the odd stares everyone gave to Armin, many looked the other way. He wore the Scouting Legion cape, so they instantly assumed he was part of the Recon Corps and looked the other way. Knowing that they were slightly protected with that identity, it took some of the pressure off of their backs. Mikasa let that be her trump card as walked up to the front desk.

"Excuse me...?" She quietly called out. The women behind the desk looked up at her and smiled. Mikasa was glad to see that there was at least one patient and good person in this hospital.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I need to know what room my brother is in." Mikasa said, turning her head over her shoulder to make sure Armin was still by her, which he was.

"What's your brother's name?" She asked and looked down to her computer.

"Eren Jaeger. He got a couple a blood transfusion yesterday morning." Mikasa stated. The women typed in Eren's name into the computer to find his room, and when finding it, she looked back up at Mikasa with a skeptical look.

_'Oh boy, here we go again...'_ Mikasa thought while looking at her feet.

"Can I see some ID?" She asked. Mikasa quietly groaned before pulling out her ID from her back pocket, the same one she flashed the day before. She knew that this woman didn't believe that she was Eren's sister. She looked nothing like him, _obviously_, and she was adopted into their family (never legally of course). This quick to judge thing became a normal thing for her, but, by _law,_ any Scouting Legion member was allowed to see anyone with correct ID. People knew Mikasa by name; there was no way she wouldn't be pushed from her brother.

"Alright, thank you." The lady said and flashed a smile. "He's in room three-twenty-two on the fifth floor."

"Thank you," Mikasa took her ID from the desk manager and made a B-line straight for the elevator. It was just to her luck that the women caught a look of Armin standing behind me.

"Oh, e-excuse me!" She called out.

"God damn it..." Mikasa hissed under her breath before composing herself and turning around with a smile on her lips.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I need to see your ID too." She said while pointing to Armin. Armin lifted his head an inch to look at Mikasa, his eyes begging for a quick resolve. He didn't have an ID, and he certainly looked different than the previous one he had, which was long gone by now. He mouthed the words, "help me," but Mikasa was already forming a plan in her head.

"This is Christa Renz." Mikasa said and patted his shoulder. "She's a part of the Recon Corps, and she's also Eren's girlfriend." She improvised. Armin's eyes widened at the explanation, but he wasn't sure if he was offended by the comparison to the girl or hurt by the information. Did Eren really have a girlfriend? If so, why hadn't he said something to Armin?

"I still have to see her ID." The women said, offering a small, but weak smile.

"Look her up in the system. Christa volunteers here on her days off." Mikasa said and shrugged her shoulders. The women nodded her head and went back to her computer to do just that. Armin moved closer to Mikasa, hoping that no one would see his face.

"What are you doing?" He asked in a barely audible tone.

"Trust me and follow my lead. When I tell you to do something, do it." Mikasa's tone was so quiet that only someone like Armin could hear it. He nodded in understanding and lowered his head like before.

"Miss Christa," The nurse said. Armin turned in her direction, but kept his head low. "Could you lift your head for a moment?" She asked. Armin cursed his luck, fearing the worst, but Mikasa nudged his forward.

"Lift your head an inch." She whispered. Armin swallowed before doing so, exposing half of his face to the nurse. His eye caught the woman's for a brief second, and once that happened he dropped his head back down. He turned back to Mikasa, his eyes pleading for an answer.

"Alright, thank you for your patience. Go on ahead," the woman smiled brightly and pointed to the elevator down the hall.

"Thank you," Mikasa said and took Armin's hand in her own. "Come on, Christa; let's go see your boyfriend." She said in an airy tone. His whole body felt numb from the sudden situation that was put onto him, but Mikasa seemed as cool as ever. Armin was pulled along to the elevators, legs nearly dragging behind him. She pulled him to the closest elevator, and, when making sure it was empty, she pulled Armin into the empty car and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

As soon as they were out of sight, Armin fell to his knees. He collapsed over his legs and pressed his head against the floor, shuddering as he took deep breathes to calm his nerves. All Mikasa did was sigh.

"That was such a hassle." She murmured.

"What just happened? I-I don't understand... How did you pull that off?" Armin asked in a shaky voice.

"Christa Renz is a… _Friend_ of mine... She works under a woman named Petra Ral in the Recon Corps, but she works here on her free days." Mikasa began to explain. "I remembered that she worked here and used that to my advantage. You may be a boy, but you look a lot like her." Mikasa almost smirked at the words before looking down and lifting Armin's hood up a little to see his face. Armin looked up to her with quivering eyes, but he was more afraid of the look on her face now than what just happened.

"In fact, you could easily pass off as her twin." She mumbled with a rather odd look on her face. She pushed Armin's bangs to one side and then lifted his chin up to get the lights of the elevator on his face. "That's really odd... Had I not been so angry yesterday, I may have thought that you were Christa herself." Armin pulled his face away from her and stood up so he wouldn't be subjected to her odd sense of humor.

"O-Okay, I get it. I know I look like a girl, but you don't have to rub it in." Armin sulked slightly.

"You don't look too much like a girl, but you do look a lot like Christa." Mikasa mumbled and leaned back against the elevator wall. Armin did the same and dropped his head so his hood would cover his face again. This elevator didn't seem to go fast enough for him, leaving him to his own and unnecessary thoughts. Being left to that made him start thinking about what Mikasa had said earlier. It probably wasn't any of his business, but he was curious to know if what she had said was true. Was Eren really dating this Christa person, the one Mikasa said he looked like?

"Uhm... Mikasa...?" He mumbled to her.

"What...?" She had fallen right back into her apathetic normality, her eyes dead and her face expressionless. Even her tone was dead when she spoke.

"W-When you said that Eren was dating Christa... Was that true?" He wasn't sure if he wanted an answer to it, but there was that underlying curiosity that made him ask.

"No, Eren has never actually dated anyone before. He's been too preoccupied with catching vampires to actually care for relationships." Mikasa explained while looking at the wall. Armin looked back down to his feet as he contemplated the answer she had given him. He was glad to hear that the two weren't an item, but the information about how he was too preoccupied hunting his kind was a little painful, but why?

Eren may have saved his life and they may have had sex, but they had never said anything about being in a "relationship," and that was if they had one. If Eren didn't hate him after this whole ordeal, Armin would consider himself lucky. He did care for him; he wasn't sure if he could label his feelings for Eren as love like Mikasa previously stated, but he knew he cared her him. He didn't want to say that he was particularly "jealous" if Eren saw other people, but he knew he didn't like the idea.

"What, does that make you _jealous?_" Mikasa asked. Armin lowered his head and remained quiet. "I didn't think your kind could get jealous..." Mikasa claimed, but she knew her self that it was a lie. Vampires still had emotions just like any other human, and being a vampire didn't change that.

"Wouldn't it make you jealous?" Armin dared to ask. He didn't have to look at her to know that he was receiving a life threatening glare from Mikasa. He had made a mental note not to compare the two of them while she was around, but hadn't he just done that? He was sure he was going to die if it hadn't been for the elevator beeping to signal their arrival to the fifth floor.

"Let's go," Mikasa hissed and yanked at his arm. Armin stayed quiet this time, refusing to piss her off any more than he already had. He pulled his hood back down and stared at the floor as Mikasa navigated them through the clean and white halls of the hospital. She was murmuring numbers to herself, so Armin assumed that she was counting room numbers. He didn't try looking up to find the room number they were searching for; he wasn't ready to die just yet. "It should be around here," Mikasa mumbled while turning a corner.

Armin couldn't catch himself in time before Mikasa pushed him to the ground into the previous hall. He looked up, startled by her sudden action and afraid that she had changed her mind and was going to kill him, but Mikasa was motioning for him to be quiet with a finger to her lips.

"Get into that room and hide." She whispered in a panic while pointing to an empty room. Armin didn't bother to question her; he simply listened and went into the room she told him about. He hid behind the door and pressed his back into the wall as Mikasa began to speak to someone.

"Ah, if it isn't Ackerman."

"Good evening, Commander Erwin." Armin closed his eyes to focus better on the voice of the other person she was speaking to.

"You're here to see Eren, right?" The male voice asked. He sounded mature, probably in his thirties. "It actually surprised me that you weren't here already."

"The new case we're working on has put a lot of stress on me, and Eren saw it. He made me go home yesterday and rest." Mikasa explained.

"Even after getting attacked by a new blood and then going through several blood transfusions, that boy still watches after you." The voice, who Mikasa called Commander Erwin, said, a little exasperated by the sound of it too. Armin could hear the sarcastic tone underlying his statement, and then just a barely silent sigh from Mikasa, something Erwin probably didn't hear.

"I'm aware, sir. He never lets me look after him." Was that Mikasa whining? Armin wasn't aware that she could do that.

"It just proves he cares." Erwin said. Armin could hear the sound akin to someone patting ones shoulder before footsteps were sounded. "Well, I must be off. I have paper work to file out, not to mention I need to give a statement to the Military Police and Stationary Guard about some new blood on the loose." Erwin said.

"Did Eren tell you anything about the new blood?" Mikasa asked.

"No, he just said that they snuck up on him and he didn't see anything." Erwin explained.

"So Eren is awake then?" Mikasa asked just to confirm it.

"Yep, he's wide awake." Armin heard more footsteps for a moment before they stopped. "Please rest well, Ackerman. Make sure Eren does the same."

"Will do, sir. Thank you for visiting." Mikasa said.

"You're welcome," Armin listened deftly to the sounds of more footsteps, and he was sure that if his heart still beat, it would be pounding out of his chest right about now. He waited another moment, waiting for Mikasa until she appeared in the room.

"Armin...?" She called out quietly. Armin left the sanctity of the wall to join her, but she didn't seem too surprised seeing him.

"Who was that?" Armin asked quietly.

"My boss," Mikasa huffed before grabbing Armin's wrist and pulling him out of the room. "Let's hurry up and get this over with before anyone else shows up." She growled and pulled him to Eren's door. She released Armin's hand before knocking and waiting for a response. There was a quick "Come in" from a voice that was most definitely Eren's, and Mikasa did just that.

She opened the door enough to only reveal herself, hiding Armin for a moment longer. Eren looked over to the door, a small smile on his lips until he saw that it was Mikasa. As soon as he saw his sister, his eyes widened and his lips fell into a frightening frown. It was obvious what he was thinking about; a blind man in another country could see it. He was worried about Armin, but without being able to see the boy hiding behind the door, he was left in the dark about the situation.

"Mi-Mikasa," He was barely able to breathe at the moment, his breath cold and his heart beating painfully within his ribs were making his lungs shrivel up. He was afraid for so many things and he wasn't even sure if he could voice them.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay." Mikasa said calmly while looking around in the room. She needed to make sure that no one else was there before letting a vampire in. For all she knew, Eren's boss could be hiding somewhere, and then there would go her plan of getting answers from the two.

"Mikasa, w-what happened to... To Armin?" He stuttered and paled in complexion, fearing the answer. The obvious signs of his quickened heart beat were all over the various machines and heart monitors he was hooked up to. "Please, I was going to tell you, I was, but I didn't have the chance! This isn't his fault!" Without even knowing if Armin was dead or alive (Well, _dead)_, he began pleading for the new blood's life, hoping to save it in some way.

"I tried to tell you, but you left and didn't give me a chance. I was going to-"

"Eren," Mikasa spoke over his frantic cacophony of explanations. Eren swallowed a heavy lump of pain and guilt bawling into his throat all at once. He watched with his big and hopeless green eyes as Mikasa turned her head and began speaking to someone, but she was too far away for him to hear the words.

"Mikasa...?" His voice cracked under pressure, bidding her to look at him without moving her head. She looked back out the door and then pushed it open further, revealing Armin trembling in place and hidden away behind the heavy Scouting Legion cape. His whole body was trembling in fact, including his lips that couldn't form coherent words. Their eyes met, and the moment their eyes met, Armin fell into pieces.

Tears spilled from Armin's icy, blue eyes, slipping down his pale cheeks and onto the ground beneath him. He all but whimpered, his hands going to his mouth to bite down on his hands and stop the pathetic sounds, but it wasn't enough. Here was his friend, broken and defeated, all because of his weak sense of will.

"Eren...!" He cried out and bolted for his friend. Before he could even reach the bed, Mikasa's hand grabbed at the back of his hood and pulled him back into place, preventing him from going any farther and doing anything she'd make him regret.

"No, it's alright, Mikasa. He's okay," Eren assured, his arms outstretched and waiting for Armin. Mikasa frowned, hesitating greatly, but her brother's green eyes were wide and pleading. She couldn't possibly say no, and inevitably let go of the boy. Armin darted for Eren and fell into his open and waiting arms, his face falling into the crook of Eren's neck and his hands wrapping around his shoulders.

Armin sobbed heavily into his neck, his body practically draped over Eren's legs as he cried. Eren patted his back and murmured soft sayings to him in an effort to calm him down, but the sullen boy was nowhere even near _sanity_ let alone comfort.

"S-Sorry…! I'm so, so sorry!" He cried in a trembling voice. Eren shook his head while cradling Armin's own into his neck. He was barely aware of Armin's nose dipping into the bandages covering his newly stitched neck, but neither was Armin.

"Don't say that, it's not your fault." Eren murmured to him. "I'm the idiot that didn't clean the cut, so it's my fault."

"I shouldn't have done it..." Armin whimpered into his neck. The two were completely oblivious to Mikasa who had walked fully into the room and shut the door behind her, locking it so no one would come in uninvited. She sat down in a chair by Eren's bed, previously used by someone, but she didn't know or care who.

"I don't blame you for anything, Armin; I don't, so please stop crying..." He pleaded in a tender voice, trying to calm Armin's nerves. Armin tried to heed Eren's command, to stop crying, but that only brought on a fit of gasps in replace of steady breathing. His nose was congested now, leaving him to do nothing but force air he didn't need into his body through his mouth and then let it out again.

"Sorry," Armin repeated in a small voice. "I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing, you dummy..." Eren said and stifled a laugh. The three sat in silence for the next few minutes, the only sound being Armin's frantic breathing and sobs and the heart monitors and machines Eren was hooked up to. Eren had his eyes closed as he comforted his friend, but he could tell that Mikasa was watching them like a hawk. Her eyes were on them and them alone, her muscles tense and her anxiety at an all-time high. If Armin tried anything, anything at all, she'd kill him without hesitating.

However, Armin seemed to be doing okay. The IV bag filled with blood and hooked up to Eren through the catheter and IV line didn't seem to be bothering him in any way. Either he didn't notice the offending blood or he didn't care, and Mikasa thought that both were highly unlikely.

"Alright, Eren..." Mikasa spoke up. After that time spent in quiet and listening to the sounds of the rain outside, Armin had calmed down significantly. Mikasa considered it her chance to get answers and get the story straight. "You said you'd explain it, so explain it." She said. Eren tried looking down to the young vampire in his arms, but Mikasa reprimanded that with a disapproving sound and a click of her tongue.

"No, you look at me when you explain this, not him." She demanded. Eren kept his eyes up and on her, but his arms tightened the embrace around Armin for his own sense of comfort. "I want to know everything." His sister said.

"Okay," Eren agreed with a nod of the head. "When I was walking home yesterday, I found Armin in an alleyway. He hadn't had any blood in weeks and he was desperate, so I..." He trailed off.

"Did he convince you to give him your blood or did you give it to him willingly?" Mikasa asked while leaning forward in her chair.

"No, I gave it to him. He kept telling me to leave, because he didn't want to hurt me, but I wouldn't leave him alone. He kept arguing with me and pushing me away, but I gave him my blood." Eren explained. Mikasa's black eyes trailed down to Armin who wasn't looking at her. He had a rather calm expression, like being near Eren was enough to sooth his raged mind, but he didn't look at all smug or sarcastic. He wasn't rubbing it in her face that Eren had told her the same thing that he had told her, but she still felt the sting.

Armin had been telling the truth.

"I brought him home with me, but that's it. He hasn't done anything to me without my consent." Eren assured.

"And the bite?" Mikasa asked.

"It was just infected. I never cleaned it, but he's a new blood, so he couldn't possibly turn me." Eren continued. "I tried to tell you before you left yesterday, but the damn doctors wouldn't give me a chance. They wouldn't even listen to me when I told them I wasn't infected like they thought." Eren huffed with irritation. "Looks like they made me go through all of that hell for nothing."

"What did they do to you, Eren?" Armin sniffled slightly before looking up at Eren and asking.

"Well," Eren sighed. "They pumped me full of blood to replace what I lost, and now I'm on dialysis to clean my blood. _Whoopee."_ Eren rolled his eyes at Armin who giggled in response. "Now I'm on antibiotics to get rid of the sepsis."

"I'm sorry, Eren." Armin apologized, feeling the need to cry all over again.

"Don't blame yourself, I already told you it wasn't your fault." Eren said. Mikasa clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes, something the two didn't miss. Eren only responded with a dissatisfied glare and a huff of impatience. Armin couldn't help but giggle; they may not have been related by blood, but they sure acted like it.

"So... H-How long are you going to stay here?" Armin hesitated to ask.

"They want me here one more night for observations, but I can go home tomorrow morning so long as everything is okay." Eren said with a smile, which made the vampire smile for the first time since yesterday. "It's good, because if I stay here any longer, I'll have to cut off an arm and a leg to pay for the bills."

"We'll manage, Eren." Mikasa said and reached forward to put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Don't worry about that, worry about getting better." This, Armin assumed, was the side of her that Eren had been talking about. She was indeed human, human and caring, giving, loving, nurturing; she was horrifying when it was needed, but she was a human just like everyone else was.

"Ah come on, Mikasa. You're being so sentimental." Eren scoffed.

"I am not; I'm just worried about you." Mikasa explained while her eyes sat on Armin. It was obvious that she was motioning to him, secretly telling him not to try any funny business. Of course Armin wasn't going to do that, especially not when Eren was in this condition, and very little even if Eren was healthy. "Stop that, Mikasa. Armin isn't going to hurt anyone." Eren reprimanded.

"I don't trust him being so close to you, let alone in a hospital with patients and IV bags filled with blood." Mikasa hissed. Armin's eyes left Eren's chest in favor of finding said thing she talked about. True to her word, there was an IV bag filled with Eren's blood type hanging off of an IV pole. The blood was running through the tube and straight into his arm through a catheter in the junction of his lower arm and forearm. "Quit looking," Mikasa continued to hiss.

"Leave him alone, Mikasa." Eren reprimanded.

"Actually..." Armin mumbled. "I don't really care for it." He said while looking up at Eren.

"See, Mikasa? He doesn't want my blood, so can't you drop it?"

"That's not it really," Armin continued. The words pulled a threatening growl from Mikasa's throat. "It's just that... This blood smells different. I'm so used to Eren's scent that, with this blood mixed with his, it smells kind of funny." Armin wiggled his nose in emphasis. "It's not very appetizing," He added with a wired grin.

"You're lucky we're in a hospital right now..." Mikasa spat at him. Armin giggled and pushed his face back into Eren's chest, breathing in as much of _his_ scent as he could. Eren resisted the temptation to look down at Armin and see that adorable face he knew Armin was wearing, but he could hear the sleep dripping from his previous words.

Mikasa took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. She must have been tired as well, Eren considered, because the bags under her eyes proved it. Eren didn't even want to know how the two survived in the same apartment for a whole night without Mikasa shooting a bullet through Armin's head. The two of them seemed exhausted. They must not have gotten any sleep last night, and knowing Mikasa like he did, he was sure that she stayed up all night to watch Armin, and poor Armin would have never closed his eyes long enough to give Mikasa time to kill him.

They must have been worried for him too. Not knowing his condition, whether he'd live or die, if he was even alive at the moment; it must have been nerve wrecking.

"I'm sorry," Eren apologized to them both. Armin looked up to Eren with his big, blue eyes and shook his head, hating that Eren would apologize for something that wasn't his fault, but Mikasa spoke up first.

"You should be, Eren." She said disapprovingly.

"H-He hasn't done anything wrong though." Armin spoke up for him.

"He's done so many things that, if he's caught, he could easily be executed for." Mikasa explained. "For starters, he's got a vampire as a _pet_, a new blood none the less." Armin winced at her harsh tone and that she had called him a pet. "He's fed you and taken you in, which isn't what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to kill you on sight." She added.

"Wait..." Eren mumbled. The two looked to him, but his eyes were on the floor.

"What is it?" Mikasa asked curtly.

"Why _didn't_ you kill Armin?" Eren asked, looking up to his sister for answers.

"Because I needed to get the story straight," Mikasa replied.

"But... You've got it now, so... There isn't much stopping you..." Eren mumbled somberly while looking down at Armin. Armin looked up at him before looking away, eyes falling on Mikasa's legs and nothing else. He didn't dare look her in the eyes.

"I have to think about where we go from here." Mikasa explained. "So consider yourselves lucky."

Eren pressed his forehead down onto Armin's, breathing in his scent while Mikasa spoke. His eyes were closed, blocking out everything but the unmoving and lithe body in his arms. When opening them, he could see that Armin's eyes were closed too, but he looked more like he was falling asleep then taking in the moment. He lifted his head for a moment, jerking Armin from his attempt of sleep, and saw that Mikasa looked like she was about ready to fall asleep sitting up in her chair. Her elbow was against the plush armrest and her cheek was firmly in her palm. Her black eyes were drooping, but he could see her forcing the sleep away.

"Both of you must be tired," Eren murmured. Armin didn't even hesitate to nod his head, knowing that he couldn't lie about something so obvious. Mikasa, however, shook her head, denying the fact. She wanted to stay up, at least until Armin was asleep. She still didn't trust him, and leaving him alone with Eren, well, the odds of that happening were smaller than getting hit by lightning. "You can sleep for a bit. I won't mind," Eren stated.

"I'm fine..." Mikasa mumbled.

"Mhm..." Armin mumbled in agreement. Eren quietly chuckled at the two, but he didn't need to coax them into falling asleep; the two were doing a great job at getting to sleep on their own. To his surprise, Mikasa was the first to slip away into a blissful dream, and he was glad. She looked so tired, and after worrying about him so much, she probably needed a few _days_ of sleep.

Armin, however, was trying his hardest to stay awake. Eren didn't doubt that it was because he was afraid of Mikasa, and Eren wouldn't disagree with him on that; Mikasa could be really frightening. To help him sleep, Eren brushed the blond bangs out of Armin's face and pulled them back behind his ear. His fingers lazily rubbed across his scalp, massaging the pale skin beneath his hair and hair line. It elicited a small hum from the young vampire who was no less than pleased with the motion, and within minutes of the tender massaging, he fell asleep with his face in the crook of Eren's neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I promise that the next chapter is better... I think. XD**

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**Vamp. Modern AU: ****  
****Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.****  
**

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**Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape****  
****Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin) ****  
****Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack On Titan) ****  
**

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**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 7: ****Paparazzi**

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The machine beeps were enough to wake him from his heavy sleep. Armin opened his heavy eyes and stared blankly at the white fuzz in front of him, an odd shape and form that he couldn't make out. He shifted slightly, feeling the unmistakable form of an arm under his head and cushioning it like a pillow. He knew this sensation and this touch, it was what prompted him to rub his eyes and clear them of the fog of sleep; however, the white fuzz was still there. He slowly looked up, his eyes following the contours of the fuzz until he was met with the tan color of skin. He knew that skin well.

"Armin...?" The young vampire looked up more to see Eren's face a mere inch or two from his, a smile donning his perfect lips and his green eyes bright and shining with kindness. To wake up to such a thing would have his heart beating in a frenzy within his chest if it could. "Finally awake...?" Eren asked.

"Mhm..." Armin acknowledged and hid his face back into Eren's chest. The breathy chuckle that escaped him made Armin's cheeks flush dimly in the brightly lit room. The sound was like heaven, something he should have been in right now instead of alive and living out his eternity as a vampire.

"I'm glad. I was starting to get bored with the quiet." Eren said quietly. Armin shifted in his arms once more before sitting up slightly and looking at Eren.

"How long was I asleep?" He asked and rubbed his blue eyes with the palms of his hands.

"You and Mikasa have been asleep for hours now. It's pretty late." Eren explained and chuckled again when Armin's eyes widened at the explanation. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and see that Eren's sister was still asleep in her chair. Her legs were now pulled up to her chest and her whole body was resting against the back of the chair for as much comfort as she could get on such a small makeshift bed. "Don't worry, she's still asleep." Eren said and pushed himself up into a sitting position, and Armin soon joined him.

"Eren..." He whispered so he didn't wake up Mikasa.

"Hm...?" Eren replied.

"I really am sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Armin apologized. Eren rolled his eyes with a smirk and pulled on Armin's shoulder, having his fall against his chest again.

"Armin, I thought I told you already that this isn't your fault." Eren said.

"But I bit you..." Armin came back with.

"And I was the idiot who let it get dirty. Had I cleaned it like I should have then I wouldn't be here. It's as simple as that." Eren rubbed his fingers against Armin's heated cheek while brushing his blond hair from his face. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll accept your apology even though it means nothing, because you didn't do anything wrong." Eren spat out the final words rather quickly, but Armin still caught everything. He sighed at him, knowing that he wasn't going to win this war, and why bother trying?

Armin went back to resting against Eren's chest, his face on his shoulder and his nose just barely brushing the scar on Eren's shoulder. He scrunched up his nose again, that scent of clean blood mixed with his (not to mention someone else's) blood burning his nose. He didn't think he could hate the smell of blood so much since he turned, but he wasn't too particular to this scent at all.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

"You blood smells funny." Armin stated flatly and earned a laugh from Eren.

"So you weren't just saying that for Mikasa then?" Eren stifled another laugh when Armin lifted his head, his nose doing that cute scrunching thing.

"No, I meant it. It really does smell funny." Armin said. Eren pouted slightly, but knew it hadn't been Armin's intention to insult him. He didn't take too much offense to the comment. "Sorry," Armin mumbled.

"It's okay, I know what you mean." Eren said while ruffling his hair, eliciting a giggle from Armin. After that, Eren's hand fell to Armin's neck, only to notice something he hadn't notice before. How he hadn't, he wasn't sure, but there was a bandage around his neck, just barely above his collar bone and under his hairline. Eren pulled a little at the offending bandage, yanking it down to reveal the scarring of Armin's pale skin. The sight of it made him shiver and cringe.

He knew exactly where this came from.

"Just because I'm alive now doesn't mean she didn't _try_ to kill me." Armin said with a small smile. Eren traced the red scar with his fingertips, the touch making his hand shake. He had a feeling that something like this could have happened, but seeing it was a lot different than imagining the situation.

"Is this the only one?" Eren asked hesitantly. Armin responded by shaking his head.

"She got my arm too, but it's not that bad." Armin said while lifting his arm up slightly. Eren's green eyes didn't waver from the damage that was exposed to him. The skin had been healing well, and since vampires healed faster than humans did, a scar wasn't even going to be there within a few days, a simple figment of their imagination, but for now, it was a long, red wound that had only been covered with simple bandages. It looked like it had been cleaned and Eren could scarcely make out the residue of antibiotic cream, but that didn't take back what happened.

"... Are you okay?" The brunette boy asked.

"Of course," Armin answered with another smile that was bigger than the first. Eren sighed before pushing Armin's head back onto his shoulder and pressing his lips to the skin on his forehead. He cradled his head while keeping his eyes closed, simply taking the moment to inhale the boy's natural scent before Armin started to shift in his arms. "Eren...?" He mumbled. He pulled back slightly to look up into Eren's eyes. He was slightly surprised to see that Eren had tears pooling together at the corners of his eyes and were barely staying off of his cheeks.

"Eren, what's wrong?" Armin asked, sitting up a little more. Eren lifted a hand to his face and rubbed at his eyes, trying to stop the offending tears, but it was to no prevail.

"I thought she was going to kill you. I-I was so scared and I couldn't do anything to help." Armin frowned to Eren's words. He sounded so hurt and broken and Armin felt so guilty about it. He had no idea what had befallen his friend, and he didn't know that Eren was going through as much inner turmoil as he had been.

"Eren..." Armin wrapped his arms around Eren's broad shoulders and held him close, soothing him to the best of his abilities while Eren wrapped his arms around the young vampire's waist.

"I didn't mean for this to happen..." Eren murmured into his chest. Armin could feel his muscles shaking under his fingers and he couldn't help but tighten his grip around Eren. There wasn't anything he could say or do, because in hindsight, it was both their fault in their own ways. They could both take the blame if they wanted to, but the deed had been done.

"Eren..." What could he say? What could he do? There was nothing to do except sit in his friends embrace and hope that it was enough.

With all of this being said and all of this being done, Armin had a distant thought. He wondered to himself if this had anything to do with Eren's past. His mother was dead; Armin knew that, and as far as he knew, there was no father. The two had been on their own; they still were on their own, and Mikasa had been saved by Eren from three pure bloods. All of it was adding up, but he still didn't have all of the answers, and, at this moment, he wouldn't ask for them.

Eren was calming down, his shivering subsiding and his heartbeat returning to a normal and steady pace; this much he could tell from the machines running beside them. Armin lifted his head once more and cupped Eren's cheeks into his hands. His thumbs brushed just below Eren's bottom lashes, wiping off the liquid that offended his beautiful face and made his green eyes glassy. While looking into his eyes, Eren smiled up at him, his body and lips moving forward. Armin was glad to comply, his own face moving to meet those perfect lips.

He needed another touch, just one more. It didn't matter how chaste it was, because it'd be enough, but just as their lips barely brushed together, a knock was sounded at Eren's hospital room door.

"Mr. Jaeger, are you awake? It's time for your medicine." A female voice sounded on the other side of the door. Eren's blood ran cold and the machines beeped faster as his pulse sped up. Mikasa may have locked the door, but that didn't keep them safe. If he didn't answer they'd come in anyway. What could they possibly do?

"Shit," Eren cursed. Armin bent over the side of the bed and pressed his hand into Mikasa's shoulder to shake it.

"Mikasa," He whispered. The older teen groaned in her sleep and tried to adjust herself in the plush chair, but Armin wouldn't let her sleep a minute longer. "Wake up!" He whispered with panic. Eren's eyes scanned the two as Mikasa opened her black eyes and looked at Armin, and she did not look happy.

"What...?" She growled.

"Someone is at the door." Armin warned. Mikasa's eyes widened slightly as he lifted her head, and as if she were proving her existence, the women knocked on the door again.

"Mr. Jaeger...?" She called out again. Mikasa stood from her chair quickly and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Put the hood over your head and hide your face in Eren's lap." Mikasa instructed the young vampire. Eren watched as Armin did as told, pulling the hood over his face and dropping down to hide his face in Eren's lap. Mikasa watched, and when she deemed it safe, she unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a small nurse with a tray in her hands. "Sorry about that. We all fell asleep." Mikasa said with a small, tired smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"That's completely understandable," The women said with a bright smile and wave of the hand. "I'm glad to hear that Eren slept at all. Last night we had to drug him to put him to sleep." The nurse joked as she entered the room. Eren couldn't take the joke seriously, however.

His eyes followed her deftly. He watched with apprehension as the women brought the tray to the nearby table and set it down. On it was his dose of medicine for the day, but he couldn't care less.

"Neither could we. We were really worried about him." Mikasa said and took her seat back in the chair. The women came over with the medicine in hand and a cup of water and offered it to Eren. He took it hesitantly, his hand shaking with fear when he saw her eyes fall to Armin. He took the medicine quickly and handed the cup back to her, hoping to stall her attention, but it didn't work.

"Is she still asleep?" The women asked and pointed down to Armin.

"Yeah, Christa was crying half of the night, because she was so worried." Mikasa explained. Eren's eyes widened when he heard what Mikasa had said. He wasn't sure if he had heard her right or not. Could he possibly be high off of the medicine he had just taken? He hoped that was the case, because all of this was too nerve wrecking.

"The poor thing," The women cooed. "She shouldn't worry anymore though. Eren is doing just fine." The women assured.

"Does that mean he can come home tomorrow?" Mikasa asked with hope lacing her every being.

"So long as things stay normal, then yes." The women said and smiled when Mikasa did so. Eren could feel Armin's hand clutch tighter around his own, and just barely he could feel Armin's lips form a smile against his leg. "He can leave as early as tomorrow morning."

"That's great to hear." Eren sighed with relief. "I'm so bored here."

"I'm sorry, honey, and it's probably not going to help any by saying this, but visiting hours end in twenty minutes." The nurse's expression fell short when saying this, but that was mainly because she hated being the bearer of bad news.

"Alright then. Thank you for all of your help." Mikasa said and offered a weak smile. She hated the news more than anything, but she knew that it was late. The two of them had to leave at some point, and if they left, it'd be safer for Armin. He wouldn't be at such a risk of being decapitated in a hospital, which was all the three needed.

"It's not a problem." The nurse waved her hand to the two and walked to the door. "If you need anything, Mr. Jaeger, just give us a buzz." The petite women said and lingered for a moment to watch and make sure the supposed "girl" woke up. Mikasa stood up from we chair and placed her hands on Armin's small shoulders.

"Christa, wake up. It's time to go." Mikasa mused quietly. The woman smiled and left, assured that Mikasa and Eren's girlfriend would be awake and leave soon. Mikasa looked over her shoulder as the door clicked shut, as once it was clear and they were alone in the room, she let out a sigh of relief. "We're safe..." She mumbled and fell back into her chair.

Armin lifted his head up to look around the room and verify that it was clear, which it was. He let out his own sigh of relief and sat up, only to put his head back on Eren's shoulder and groan quietly.

"I'm not ready to leave," He mumbled against Eren's skin.

"Neither am I, but we have to." Mikasa replied to his quiet rebuttal. Armin nodded his head, his eyes downcast in depression. As they talked, it finally occurred to Eren what had happened. The two of them had lied to that nurse and gotten away with something criminal, but how? How had they done it, and so flawlessly at that? Mikasa had literally been at Armin's throat, so what changed?

"W-What just happened here?" Eren finally regained enough brain function to realize that talking (and breathing) was a necessary thing at the moment. Even so, his words were slow and he couldn't stop the small stutter that forced its way through.

"I used his looks to our advantage." Mikasa said and pointed to Armin. "He looks a lot like Christa, doesn't he?" She asked. Armin rolled his eyes and groaned, feigning disinterest on the subject. Eren, however, was more than intrigued with the new found information.

He placed the knuckles of his fingers under Armin's chin and pushed up, getting the boy to lift his head for him. Armin's eyes lifted with his head and met Eren's vehement gaze, eyes wide with slight surprise and embarrassment. He feared what the outcome would be for having his face so close to Eren's while Eren stared with such intensity back into his own. Mikasa would surely throttle him, even if it wasn't his fault, and looking over to her, he could see the berating look in her own expression. She looked like she was about ready to kill him, but Eren spoke and broke her concentration.

"Wow," He cooed. "That's kind of creepy." He mused with a half-cocked smirk. Armin whined and dropped his head down onto Eren's uninjured shoulder, hating that even Eren agreed that he looked like this Christa person. He was quite curious as to what Christa looked like, besides looking like him. If they looked as much like twins as the siblings said they looked like, Armin would definitely like to meet this girl.

"Come on, Eren..." Armin whined. Eren released a breathy chuckle and patted the back of his head.

"We have to go," Mikasa reminded bitterly. It wasn't like she wanted to go; oh no, she wanted to stay. She wanted to stay longer and talk with Eren, to take care of him and make sure he'd sleep through the night in peace and quiet, but reality was a cruel thing. They had to go, despite the absolute despising of the idea. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"What time will you pick me up?" Eren asked with Armin still tucked away in his arms.

"I'll pick you up a little after nine I guess." Mikasa said.

"I can't come?" Armin lifted his head and asked.

"The amount of risk we've already gone through for you to see him today is enough. You can see him tomorrow, and that's _if_ I don't kill you in your sleep." Mikasa practically growled out the last part. Armin dropped his head in fear, but Eren wasn't far behind with a rebuttal of his own.

"Mikasa, knock it off." He hissed. His sister responded by rolling her eyes and grabbing at Armin's shoulder to pull him out of the bed. Armin came tumbling out, barely staggering to his feet as she started pulling him away. "W-Wait, hold on." Eren called out to then.

The two turned in place by the door, Armin already pulling his hood back on before Eren motioned for the boy to step closer. He did as told, coming over to the bed and standing by the side to be near Eren. When getting the opportunity to be close, Eren quickly draped a hand onto the back of his neck and yanked him down. Armin gasped, but it was quickly muffled by Eren's lips as they pressed against his own in a chaste kiss. It wasn't meant to be passionate or lustful, but it was tender and sweet, a small gesture to show that Eren truly was fine and that he'd be home in no time. He pulled away within seconds, offering Armin a gentle smile, but the boy couldn't have looked more mortified at that moment.

"Oh thanks, Eren, now she's really going to kill me." Armin said in fright just before Mikasa grabbed at his wrist and yanked him away. Mikasa hardly cared if anyone saw him, because she was fuming with anger by the time they were in the elevators. Armin nearly didn't go in, but Mikasa dragged him in there against his will.

"You better sleep with your eyes open." Mikasa warned disparagingly.

"Yes ma'am." Armin shivered with the death glare he was receiving from her. Once the elevator was on the first floor, Mikasa took to yanking him out of it and then out of the hospital. "M-Mikasa, you're hurting me." Armin whimpered while trying to break free. Mikasa released him, but not all too kindly. She tossed his hand to the side, sending him a terrible glare while doing so.

"I-I'm sorry," He apologized weakly. Mikasa rolled her eyes before sighing. She did hate the boy at the moment, but she wasn't sure for what. It wasn't him who had kissed her brother, but Eren himself who initiated the kiss. The two were close, closer than what she originally predicted. She thought that she could destroy the vampire before anything sexual could arise (which tended to happen in most cases), but it seemed like she was already too late.

Had she known what had taken place a couple of days ago, she probably would have keened in horror.

"Just... Stay quiet so I can think..." Mikasa grumbled to herself while rubbing the bridge of her nose. Armin did, dropping his head so the hood of his cape could fully hide his face from the outside world. He kept peeking up past the rim of the hood to look at her, but she had just a deterred look on her face. It hadn't changed since they left, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't for a while. Would he even be alive to see her make an actual emotion with her face?

Armin wondered that for a moment, but that thought was fleeting. He heard rapid footsteps, sooner than Mikasa, but by the time he realized that the footsteps were getting closer to them and he looked up to her, Mikasa was already painfully aware.

"Miss Ackerman," A voice called out, and Armin didn't dare lift his head to find out who it was talking to her. Mikasa cursed under her breath and grabbed at Armin, pulling him away as the person advanced. Armin then heard the sound of more footsteps, and he was vaguely aware of the sounds of a camera and the bright flash of light that went off before it.

Armin knew what this was. He wasn't blind to the idea of it and when he had been alive he had seen the events all the time on the news. Anyone who fought vampires, whether it was the Garrison to the Military Police to the Scouting Legion, were constantly followed by paparazzi. What they did was dangerous, just like firefighters and cops, so when something big happens within the fractions, the paparazzi were all over them in minutes, but why? What had Mikasa done to gain attention from these people? Had she done something before then? It took a minute for Armin to realize what it was, and he felt stupid for having not realizing it sooner.

It was him. He had bitten Eren, Mikasa Ackerman's brothers, the best vampire hunter's brother at that. News like that was probably the biggest hit of the century, and he had caused it. What were they thinking of Eren and Mikasa right now? That humanities best trainee couldn't keep her brother safe? That Eren was just weak? That neither had been trained properly and that the Scouting Legion was inadequate to handle this kind of situation?

None of it was true, none of it at all. If they knew the truth, would they leave them alone then? Probably not.

"_Is it true that your brother was attacked by a pure blood?"_

"_Did he turn? Is he a new blood?"_

"_Will he be executed?"_

"_What will you do if that happens?"_

"Shut up…" It was an inaudible whisper, barely louder than a pencil dropping on the ground, and no one would hear it with the cacophony of people and noise around them. He tightened his grip around Mikasa's hand, feeling the anxiety of the commotion crushing him in an unbelievable weight. He couldn't handle it, he just couldn't. "It's not true… It's not…"

"_Who is this person?"_

"_What's your name?"_

"_Do you know what happened to Eren Jaeger?"_

"_Could you tell us what happened?"_

It was like being forced into a box when you were suffering from claustrophobia. He couldn't breathe, and it didn't help when there were so many people around him. The amounts of smells were noxious and abrasive, and there were so many of them. One person smelled like cigarettes, another smelled like alcohol, wine more preferably, and someone else smelled of a terrible perfume or cologne. All of the scents and smells were driving him mad, making him dizzy and nauseous. He couldn't breathe. Everything, even the light, was sensitive, and the sun was barely in the sky.

He clutched at his chest where his heart no longer beat and pulled at the shirt that felt like it was tightening around him. Mikasa noticed his impending suffering and stuffed him into the backseat of her car, not even caring at this point. She went right back to the driver's seat and tried to reverse out of there, but the large group of people, just originally one person, were surrounding her car and keeping her in place. She cursed and slammed her fist into the steering wheel before turning back to Armin and looking him over. He was still in bad condition.

"Stay here, keep your head down, and don't lift it." She commanded. He didn't need to be told twice, she was aware of that, but he seemed like he was going through a panic attack, and she knew just how bad those could get. Mikasa reached into her glove box and pulled out a small hand gun before stepping out of the car. People began questioning her, but the talking and the snapping photos stopped when Mikasa shot the gun above her head.

Mouths dropped, and so did a few cameras. Mikasa lowered the gun back down to her side, facing the crowd with a look of resentment before looking up at the ceiling. The bullet didn't even go an inch into the cement of the parking garage, but she considered the bullet a loss.

"Bullets cost money, so I expect someone to pay me for that." She hissed and jumped back into her car. When she put her car into reverse, people moved out of the way. It had worked like she had planned, but she was aware that this was going to come back in her face. No doubt that would be in the paper by tomorrow, and no doubt it'd be blown out of proportion and make her sound bad.

There was only one thing going on through her mind however, and it wasn't about the bullet she wasted or how she made herself look bad for the Scouting Legion, it was that she acted just like Eren's boss would have. A wave of self-pity washed over her.

"Well that went well…" She grumbled. Remembering Armin's near panic attack, at a red light she turned around in her seat to look at him. His face was buried into the seat, his arms over his head. His whole body was shivering with fear at the situation, but surely he knew that it was over, right? "Hey, you can relax now. It's over."

Armin shifted in place, but his shivering didn't subside and he didn't lift his head. All he did was curl up more, almost into a ball of sorts. Mikasa sighed to herself before turning back in her seat and waiting for the light to go green. When Armin was sure that she had looked away from him, when he was sure that she couldn't possibly see him, Armin lifted his head slightly to get fresh air. It wasn't like he needed it, but it helped calm his nerves, and he was going to need it.

His red eyes only proved that.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And let's ignore that this is late. *slowly waddles away* **

**Song of the day (This one is ironic): Dracula**

**By: F(x)**

* * *

**Dead of Night**

**Chapter 8:**

**Newspaper**

* * *

Armin's legs helplessly shook in place, making the floor beneath his feet creek. His eyes lifted slightly, and then he reprimanded himself for doing so. He couldn't do it. He couldn't and _wouldn't_ look at the clock. He knew that if he did, something would be off, whether it'd be the hour, minutes, or seconds. The last time he looked, it was still early. He didn't want to look, but it was driving him crazy.

Armin looked around the room instead, making sure the living room was spotless without anything out of place, the way Mikasa had left it, because that was all he needed today. He would rather not die before he could see Eren again. Everything was indeed in place and organized, so his momentary distraction was gone. His leg began its relentless tapping again, of which he was sure the sound would annoy neighbors if they heard it. His blue eyes shifted again, and this time he didn't stop them from looking up at the clock mounted on the wall. He couldn't have been more devastated.

"It's only been five minutes?" He whined. He swore he looked at the clock an hour ago, and it said a totally different time. It had been five minutes since then. He knew that, but he didn't like it. He wanted time to go by faster, because the faster it went by, the faster he could see Eren, and time was _not_ going by fast enough.

Mikasa had left early, saying she'd pick up breakfast for Eren on the way. Eren was released from the hospital at nine, and it was now ten thirty-eight. Why was it taking so long for them to get back? It wasn't that long of a drive, Armin was aware of this just as much as Mikasa or Eren were, so where could they possibly be?

Armin dropped down onto the couch and buried his nose into the cushions. He could smell Eren's scent lingering in the fabric, and it was driving him mad. He had to see Eren again. Being apart for this long was madness that he couldn't handle. It made him scared in more ways than one, and then that made him scared too. When had he become so dependent on Eren?

And then it was like his prayers had been answered. He distantly heard the sounds of footsteps, and without even seeing it, he knew who it was. How, he wasn't sure. He just knew. He suddenly sat up and looked at the door, and he was sure his heart would be beating a mile a minute if it wasn't frozen within his chest. His eyes were wide as he waited and waited, and it felt like forever before the locks clicked with keys and the front door opened.

"Stop coddling over me, Mikasa. The doctor said I was fine, the nurse said I was fine; for god sakes Jean said I was okay. I'm _okay,_ Mikasa." Eren's voice sounded first, followed by him appearing into the apartment with Mikasa following behind.

"I'm just worried for you." Mikasa said, her voice sounding slightly tired and scratchy. Armin would know why. She stayed up half of the night watching him while he slept.

"You're worried and you're smothering me." Eren retorted with a cheeky grin before looking over to Armin. The gleam in his eyes when they looked at each other was obvious, even to Mikasa, who tried to deny it.

"Eren," Armin said with a sigh of relief. He jumped up from the couch to greet his friend with a hug, but before he could come within a few feet of his friend, Mikasa stood between the two and held her hand out to stop Armin from advancing any further.

"Hold on," She said with a hiss. Eren instantly clicked his tongue behind her and groaned audibly.

"Mikasa, that's enough." Eren scolded.

"Eren-" Mikasa tried, but Eren wouldn't let her continue.

"Mikasa, he's not going to hurt me." Eren interrupted with a stern tone. Armin fidgeted in place, feeling the tension building up in the room. He felt so guilty for bringing this into their family, but it wasn't like he really chose it. "Come on, Mikasa, move out of the way." Eren said.

Mikasa looked to Eren and then Armin before stepping back for the two. Armin immediately felt relief as he jumped to Eren and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. He sighed in relief. Eren's body, his clothes, his scent, everything was back and in his arms, and he felt like he could relax and get a decent night's sleep.

"Eren," He mumbled into the brunette's jacket.

"Hey, Armin," Eren said while rubbing his back. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I told you nothing happened." Mikasa grumbled behind the two. From where he was standing, with his ear pressed against Eren's chest to listen to his beating heart, Armin could have sworn that Mikasa was pouting. That's what it sounded like to him.

"Yes you did, and I'm sorry for doubting you." Mikasa scoffed as the two pulled apart from their hug, Eren's arm wrapped around his waist, but this left Armin with an empty feeling in his dead heart. He was happy though, so he wouldn't complain. Just having Eren back, having him healthy and alive, was more than enough for him.

"You always doubt me."

"I never said I didn't." Eren shrugged his shoulders and said. Armin smiled into his hand, finding the two's bickering to be quite entertaining, but he didn't want to upset Mikasa, or rather, he didn't want to upset her more. The only thing that stopped the two of them from bickering was Eren's stomach suddenly growling in protest. His cheeks flushed red heavily from embarrassment, and it became even worse when Armin giggled at him. "Hospital food fucking sucks…" He grumbled out.

"Get something to eat Eren." Mikasa said with a sigh.

"Don't mind if I do." Eren tromped over to the kitchen, finger pointing and all. Armin followed, more laughter flowing from his lips at Eren's childish behavior.

"Behave ourselves," Mikasa reminded after the two. Armin heeded the warning, but Eren was already digging into the fridge, looking for something to eat. Armin watched with a smile, happy to have his Eren back and alive.

"You want something to eat, Armin?" Eren asked, not lifting his head from the fridge to look at him.

"Huh…?" The words shocked Armin just as much as it would if someone were to hit him across the face.

"Do you want something to eat?" Eren lifted his head, narrowly avoiding the freezer door as he looked over to Armin. Armin was fidgeting in place, his fingers tangled together in a knot as he looked at the ground. "Are you hungry?"

"B-But…" Armin looked out into the hallway where he saw Mikasa disappear into her room. "Your sister is here…" He mumbled and looked back down to the floor. Eren, gave him a confused look, but when he replayed the words in his head, when they made sense from Armin's point of view, he mentally slapped himself for sounding so stupid.

"Oh God; no Armin, not like that!" He chastised himself and laughed. "I meant real food, not me." Armin flushed at his words.

"I-I can do that?" Armin lifted his head a little to look past his bangs and asked.

"Yeah, of course you can." Eren leaned against the door and smiled, finding Armin's blush too adorable for words.

"But… I uhm…"

"Armin, just because you survive off of blood doesn't necessarily mean you can't eat anything else. Most of your organs still work, so it's fine to eat food. Besides, you can eat something like a stake and still get something from it. It's meat after all." Eren explained. Armin looked down again to his feet that had taken to closing together to twiddle against the floor.

This was all news to him. All he ever knew of vampires was learned from movies and books. He thought, since vampires were real creatures, all which had ever been said in movies had been the truth.

Apparently that wasn't the case.

"Oh…" He mumbled. There was a short pause, allowing the quiet to sink in before Armin picked up the sound of Eren's sigh, followed by him shutting the refrigerator door. Of course it didn't take perfect hearing to hear that.

"Armin, where's Mikasa?" Eren asked.

"Hm…? Armin lifted his head, finding Eren's full attention on him, like a crushing pressure to his chest that took the air from someone's lungs. Eren gestured to the other room with his head, and Armin peeked back in to see where Mikasa was. Currently she wasn't even in there. Armin inspected more to find her at the front door, mail currently in her hands.

"She's getting the mail." He answered.

"Come here," Eren said and gestured to Armin with his hand. He didn't know why, but something told Armin, possibly the smirk on Eren's lips, that Eren had something in store for him. He wasn't all too sure if that was something to be entirely afraid of.

Nonetheless he did as told, stepping towards Eren with a quiet footfall.

"Yeah…?" He asked. Eren's hand was quick to wrap around his shoulders, and before Armin could reprimand him for such a hasty act, Eren pulled one even more frightening for him.

Eren's lips were against him in a kiss. There was nothing rushed or passionate about the kiss, it was just sweet; sweet and kind and absolutely terrifying. Armin practically screeched before pushing Eren away by his chest. In response, while he seemed surprised, Eren couldn't stop the laugh that left him.

"E-Eren!" Armin whispered in panic, though it was partially muffled by his hand. "Your sister is right there!"

"I know," Eren answered and looked back into the fridge.

"So why did you kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to," He said nonchalantly.

"That's a terrible excuse." Armin said before removing his hand from his lips.

"If she didn't notice before, she won't notice now." Eren rolled his eyes.

"I'm not taking any chances." Armin looked back to the floor, as if the white tiles had something more entertaining.

"So we can't even touch anymore?" Eren asked. Armin huffed, taking the comment as a joke, but when he looked up, Eren seemed like a lost puppy with the frown on his lips. Was he that upset by the idea of it?

"Eren," Mikasa called out from the living room.

"Yeah…?" He returned. When there wasn't a response, Eren went into the living room, Armin following cautiously behind. Mikasa was standing by the couch, mail in hand, but her attention was with a newspaper open at the front page. "Mikasa, what's wrong?" He asked.

"We were caught," She said and held out the paper for him. Eren gave her an odd look before taking the paper from her and looking. Armin looked over Eren's shoulder to see what it was, but he didn't see anything wrong with it. Of course all of the paparazzi caused a stir in the news, because Mikasa was in a picture surrounded by them. In the background was him, hiding behind his cape. His face was barely visible, but he couldn't make out much accept for his chin and nose.

"Oh shit," Eren suddenly said.

"We got our picture taken, so what?" Armin questioned.

"Armin, any vampire hunter within this newspaper route is going to see this, and they're going to be after us before we can even blink an eye." Mikasa hissed.

"W-Wait," Armin suddenly panicked. "It's not possibly to differentiate me from another human, right?" He asked.

"Armin, we're hunters. Even with this shit photography, anyone trained can tell you're a vampire." Eren explained and tossed the paper down onto the coffee table. "As soon as someone figures it out, that's going to be the more important news."

"And then the Scouting Legion will be on us in minutes." Eren's sister mumbled through her teeth, which were currently biting her thumb.

"What are we going to do?" Panic wasn't even part of the equation anymore. Armin was downright terrified. This was just another way of saying that his death was finalized into handwriting.

"Fuck…" Eren cursed and fell onto the couch. Armin was quick to sit beside him, hands grabbing at Eren's arm as a source of comfort. He was mildly surprised that Mikasa didn't bite his head off, but there were more important things to worry about at this point, and that wasn't one of them.

"What are we going to do?" Mikasa asked, lifting her eyes to look past her long lashes. Still Eren was quiet. Without an answer, Armin buried his head into Eren's shoulder and tried stifling his tears and sobs. He didn't want to cry and seem weak, but how could he not?

Things were just starting to go right. Eren was alive and safe, and Mikasa had not yet killed him. Sure, it was a pretty bad situation, but it could have been worse. He could have been dead, and he wasn't. In that time, Armin really started to think that maybe he could have something considered a life with the two siblings, but that light was taken away and snuffed out.

Why, why, _why?_ Why did everything good have to be taken away from him? Why did it have to be taken away from Eren and Mikasa? Hadn't they had their fair share of misfortunes? Of course he showed up, and then everything went to hell.

How was any of this fair?

"We could tell Levi." Eren suddenly announced, but his voice remained low and grave. Armin watched with curious, blue eyes as Eren lifted his head just a little, gold eyes meeting his sisters with question. The stare he got was nothing short of mocking.

"Might as well put a bullet through all of our heads now." She quipped.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I," Mikasa said. "Eren, the minute he sees Armin, he's going to kill him."

"I won't let him touch Armin." Eren abruptly stood up and growled.

"W-Wait, who's-" Armin attempted to speak, but the siblings bickering was too loud.

"You aren't thinking through any of this, Eren!"

"Of course I am!"

"What is it your crazy plan can achieve then?"

"I want to protect Armin!"

"That's not going to happen!" When their bickering became arguing, and when their arguing became yelling, Armin had, had enough.

"_Stop!"_ He yelled over them. Eren seemed rather surprised by Armin raising his voice, but Mikasa couldn't look any more disgusted even if she tried.

"Armin-"

"Yelling isn't going to get us anywhere." He reminded. Eren and Mikasa exchanged looks at each other, and after a moment, things seemed to settle. The two went back to their previous positions, Eren on the couch by Armin and Mikasa standing. Armin was glad he did something, but that still didn't solve the situation at hand. "Now, before this gets out of hand again; who is Levi?" Armin asked.

"Levi-…" Mikasa began, but then she stopped.

"Levi took us in. When it was just the two of us, he took us in and put us into the training regimen for vampire hunting. That's how we live here, because he got us this place and paid for it until we were able to take care of ourselves." Eren explained, motioning to the apartment.

"_That answers that…"_ Armin inwardly thought to himself.

"He's kind of like a dad in a way to us, but he still keeps that line solid." Mikasa muttered, but it sounded like the statement was more to herself than Armin.

"So he took care of you two." Armin mumbled.

"Yeah, but he's not just that. I'm sure once you think about it, it'll hit you fast. The name Levi isn't very common after all." Eren said and rubbed the back of his neck. Armin tilted his head, confused by Eren's words. Levi wasn't a common name. What did that mean?

And then it hit him.

_Levi._

_Oh…_

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing you got it." Eren said with a chuckle. Armin wasn't aware that he had an expression on his face at all, but when he thought about it, he was sure it was akin to shock or surprise.

"You know, I could have been found by a police officer, a mail man, I could have even been found by a stupid snail, but no. I'm found by a vampire hunter whose sister is ranked as the best trainee ever marked in records and was taken care of by the best vampire hunter in the world, who is _not only_ the best, but is within the Scouting Legion, which is a group of nothing but vampire hunters." Armin stated. "I agree with both of you. I don't understand how I am not dead yet."

"You should consider yourself lucky." Mikasa grumbled.

"I do!" Armin yipped. "Eren, Levi will kill me. Why do you want to bring him into this?" He then asked.

"Because, out of everyone I know, Levi is the most level-headed person I've ever met. He is more likely going to hear us out than kill you, but only if we stand in the way and delay him."

"And risk getting shot." Mikasa added.

"He would never shoot us, and don't say he would miss. Levi doesn't miss." Eren proclaimed.

"That makes me feel better." Armin said.

"Listen, I know it's crazy, but Levi will listen. Whether the ending results will be good or not is the thing, but it's something to start with. Besides, if this works and he helps us, we have the best vampire hunter on our side. People will listen if it's him."

"Except the Military Police." Mikasa reminded. "They'll go out of their way to get Armin, one way or another, and then we'll be on the list as well."

"It's too late to back out though. If Levi sees that newspaper before we can get to him, if _anyone _sees that newspaper before we can get to him, and they tell him, it's over. At least we have a chance this way." Armin looked from Eren to Mikasa, and then back to Eren. Eren looked so determined, so dead set on this idea. He saw all of the ways it could go wrong, but it was their only option. It was better than doing nothing, and he knew Mikasa saw it too.

He saw her thoughts running through her head, saw her eyes shift around the room as she thought hard about it. Faintly he could hear her heart beating rather hard within her chest. She was thinking about it for sure.

"Mikasa…" Eren stood from the couch and touched his sister's arm. "He has a say in higher government. He can talk to Erwin, and if Erwin helps us, then he'll talk to others… This is our only chance." Eren gave her a pleading look, making sure to stick out his bottom lip for extra emphasis. Mikasa was a sucker for his puppy eyes.

"Don't do that, Eren." Mikasa whined. "… We can _try._"

"Really…?" Eren beamed with happiness.

"Yes, but… This may not work. I don't want you getting hurt." Mikasa said.

"It's our only option though." Eren replied. He looked back down at Armin, who stared up at him with pleading, blue eyes.

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Mikasa asked with a sigh.

"No, not really," Eren joined her with his own sigh. "Go ahead and call him. He needs to be here now, before news gets around."

"N-Now, as in _right now?_" Armin asked.

"We can't waste any time. The longer we wait, the longer we run the risk of him finding out." As Eren explained this, Mikasa pulled her phone from her pocket and began clicking along the buttons. Armin swallowed shakily as he watched her pull the phone up to her ear, but she didn't stay for long. When Armin heard another voice on the other line, Mikasa walked out of the room to take care of the call. He only heard remnants of her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just uh… It's been busy lately… No, no, I am."

Her small talk was ignored by Eren. He pulled at Armin's hand, helping him stand up off of the couch and pulling him close.

"Armin," He whispered, his voice low for only him to hear. It wasn't like Armin couldn't _not _hear him, even if he tried. However, his voice was smooth like velvet, and Armin found his nerves relaxing to it. "Hey, look at me." He pleaded.

Armin did. He looked up at Eren, finding his gold eyes on him again. Eren was trying to be strong for him, and he was thankful for that. It meant a lot, but he knew that Eren was just as scared as he was. He knew it, and he was sure Mikasa was too, though she was better at hiding it.

How long would it take, he wondered. How long would it take for his death to come to him? He didn't know how far Levi was from them, so how could he possibly know? How could he act like nothing was about to happen, like time wasn't ticking to its end for him? How could he act like everything was alright when it wasn't?

Nothing was okay.

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**A/N: Levi and his badassery is in the next chapter everyone~!**


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